CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  TOXICOLOGY. 
29 
the  strength  has  varied  from  half  an  ounce  to  an  ounce  in  each 
fluid  ounce.  By  the  researches  of  Personne,  lupulin  contains 
about  one  per  cent,  of  valerianic  acid,  a  volatile  oil,  and  a  con- 
siderable quantity  of  yellow  resin,  besides  a  bitter  principle  ; 
hence,  in  treating  lupulin  to  get  a  concentrated  solution,  it  is 
necessary  to  adopt  a  process  that  will  retain  the  volatile  prin- 
ciples in  the  preparation  when  finished.  The  following  process 
will  accomplish  this  end  : 
Take  of  Lupulin,  four  ounces  (Troy), 
Alcohol, 
Rectified  ether,  of  each  a  sufficient  quantity. 
Put  the  lupulin  in  a  glass  displacer,  pour  upon  it  four  fluid 
ounces  of  ether,  and  then  sufficient  alcohol  to  gain  six  fluid  ounces 
by  slow  percolation,  and  set  the  liquid  aside.  Then  continue  the 
displacement  with  alcohol  till  ten  fluid  ounces  of  liquid  passes. 
Evaporate  this  to  two  fluid  ounces  and  mix  it  with  the  ethereal 
tincture  and  by  means  of  a  heat  of  100Q  Fahr.,  or  spontaneously; 
let  the  ether  evaporate,  so  that  the  resulting  fluid  extract  shall 
measure  four  fluid  ounces.  As  a  minim  equals  a  grain  of  lupu- 
lin, the  physician  can  easily  regulate  the  dose. 
CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  TOXICOLOGY. 
Translated  from  Wittstein's  Vierteljahreschrift  by  J.  M.  Maisch. 
On  the  recognition  of  Phosphorus.    By  E.  Vielgutil 
When  making  a  chemico-legal  investigation  on  the  corpses  of 
two  children  supposed  to  have  been  poisoned  by  phosphorus,  the 
author  mixed  a  little  phosphorous  paste  with  some  victuals,  and 
after  leaving  it  in  a  loosely  covered  vessel  for  two  months,  found 
the  mixture  dried  to  a  hard  cake,  covered  with  a  green  mould 
and  possessing  a  mouldy  odor  devoid  of  phosphorous  smell, 
even  when  freshly  broken.  But  on  heating  some  of  it  with  hydro- 
chloric acid,  white  vapors  of  phosphorus  acid  were  evolved,  and 
after  triturating  and  washing  another  part,  several  globules  of 
phosphorus  could  be  separated.  The  balance  of  the  dry  mass 
was  again  set  aside  for  four  months,  when  muriatic  acid  still 
generated  white  phosphoric  vapors,  but  no  globules  of  phosphorus 
could  be  separated  by  triturating  in  a  mortar  ;  on  the  pestle, 
however,  were  a  number  of  small  spots,  hardly  recognizable  by 
