Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.  "> 
Dec.  1,  1874.  j" 
Pharmaceutical  Colleges,  etc. 
587 
the  leaves  of  Jacaranda  hrasiliana,  Pers.,  which  are  used  in  Brazil,  for  their 
stimulant  properties,  under  the  name  of  Caroba. 
M.  Poggiale  presented  a  paper  by  M.  Gault,  of  Nancy,  on  the  preparation  of 
monobromated*  camphor.  The  author's  process!  differs  from  that  published 
in  this  Journal,  1872,  p.  342,  in  the  following  particulars  :  A  retort  is  used 
having  ten  times  the  capacity  of  the  camphor  bromide  formed  ;  powdered 
camphor  is  introduced,  and  then  bromine  in  a  thin  stream  until  the  camphor  is 
all  liquefied,  weighing  being  considered  unnecessary,  since  an  excess  of  either 
material  will  not  affect  the  final  result;  heat  is  applied  by  a  water-bath,  when 
a  tumultuous  extrication  of  gas  takes  place,  consisting  of  hydrobromic  acid 
and  bromine.  Raising  the  temperature  to  132°  C.  is  regarded  as  increasing 
the  oily  product.  When  the  disengagement  of  gas  ceases,  the  contents  of  the 
retort  are  thrown  into  water  and  boiled  for  some  time  in  the  open  air  to_  remove 
the  remaining  hydrobromic  acid  and  bromine,  the  loss  of  monobromated  cam- 
phor by  volatilization  being  considered  as  insignificant  when  compared  with 
the  advantages  of  the  first  step  of  purification.  The  mass  is  now  purified  by 
repeated  crystallization  from  stronger  alcohol.  Its  melting  point  was  found  by 
Gault  at  69°  to  70°  C,  its  congealing  point  lower.  The  oily  product  contained 
in  the  mother  liquor,  and  adhering  to  the  last  crystallizations,  is  then  heated 
to  between  200°  and  220°  C,  until  a  black  viscous  mass  is  formed,  which  is 
purified  by  crystallization  from  alcohol;  by  not  raising  the  temperature  to 
260°  C.,  the  author  believes  to  avoid  the  carbonization  of  a  notable  portion  of 
the  product. 
M.  Poggiale  also  presented  a  memoir  on  the  action  of  solar  light  upon  iodide 
of  potassium,  containing  observations  made  by  M.  Yidau,  a  military  pharma- 
cist (pharmacien-major),  stationed  in  Africa.  The  interesting  results  which 
are  published  in  detail  {Jourri.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Clum.,  1874,  November,  p. 
349-354),  may  be  summed  up  as  follows  :  Solution  of  iodide  of  potassium  and 
contained  in  paper  (such  as  is  usually  used  for  ascertaining  the  presence  of 
ozone  in  the  air)  is  rapidly  decomposed  under  the  influence  of  sunlight,  and 
under  the  most  divers  conditions,  which,  for  paper  saturated  with  starch  and 
the  iodide,  was  already  pointed  out  by  Cloez.  Concentrated  solutions  appear 
to  be  more  rapidly  affected,  becoming  strongly  alkaline  as  the  decomposition 
proceeds,  likewise  solutions  which  have  been  previously  acidulated.  In  deter- 
mining ozone  by  starch  and  potassium  iodide  paper,  or  by  the  alkaline  reaction 
produced,  the  influence  of  sunlight  and  its  intensity  cause  serious  errors,  and 
the  reactions  obtained  must  be  referred  to  both,  and  not  merely  to  one  of  the 
causes  indicated. 
During  the  discussion  which  followed,  M.  Latour  stated  that  iodide  contain- 
ing one  per  cent,  carbonate  of  potassium  acquires  spontaneously  a  yellow  color, 
three  per  cent,  of  the  alkaline  salt  being  required  to  keep  the  former  unaltered. 
*  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  most  medical  journals  in  this  country  and  elsewhere  persist  in  erro- 
neously calling  this  compound  monobromidc  of  camphor,  which  has  the  composition  CioHisOBr 
A  few  pharmaceutical  journals  use,  likewise,  this  incorrect  name,  and  M.  Gault  has  called  it 
monobromure  de  camphre,  which  was  very  properly  corrected  by  M.  Bourgoin  to  camphre  monobrome. 
Its  proper  English  name  is  monobromated  camphor,  it  being  a  substitution  compound  of  the  for- 
mula CioHi6BrO  (new  notation). 
t  Published  in  V  Union  Pharmaceutic,  1874,  September,  266-269. 
