692 
Notes  and  News. 
f  Am,  Jour.  Pharm. 
\   December,  1896. 
for  supporting  the  substances  to  be  dried.  The  box  has  been  found  useful  in  a 
number  of  cases  where  it  was  not  convenient  to  use  the  ordinary  desiccator. 
"  Glycerite  of  Iyicorice  "  was  the  subject  of  the  last  contribution,  which  was 
presented  by  Joseph  W.  England. 
Powdered  extract  of  licorice  was  sifted  upon  water  and  ammonia  water,  in 
certain  proportions  contained  in  a  capacious  agate-ware  pan,  dissolved,  and  the 
mixture  poured  upon  a  sand  bed  in  a  glass  funnel,  allowed  to  stand  twelve 
hours  and  percolated,  and  more  water  added  until  the  soluble  matter  was 
washed  out,  the  percolates  mixed  and  the  volume  in  fluid  ounces  noted.  One 
fluid  ounce  was  evaporated  to  a  constant  weight,  and  the  number  of  grains  of 
extract  in  the  reserve  percolate  calculated  and  divided  by  240  to  obtain  the  num- 
ber of  fluid  ounces  of  a  50  per  cent,  by  volume  solution  that  could  be  made. 
The  remainder  was  then  evaporated  to  three-fourths  of  the  estimated  volume, 
and  sufficient  glycerin  added  to  make  up  the  volume.  Samples  of  the  glycerite, 
which  were  made  a  couple  of  months  ago  by  the  author  had  kept  well  and 
were  quite  agreeable  in  flavor  and  odor.  The  preparation  was  suggested  for 
making  syrup  extemporaneously,  using  1  part  of  glycerite  to  3  parts  of  simple 
syrup. 
Prof.  F.  G.  Ryan  called  attention  to  a  set  of  "Sterling  Graduates,"  which 
had  been  presented  by  Neidlinger  Brothers,  of  New  York  City. 
On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
T.  S.  WlEGAND, 
Registrar. 
NOTES  AND  NEWS. 
The  Determination  of  Caffeine  in  lea  is  accomplished  by  B.  H.  Gane 
{Jour.  Soc.  Chem.  Ind.,  February,  1896),  according  to  the  following  process, 
which  is  practically  that  suggested  by  Allen  :  "6  grammes  of  finely-powdered 
tea  are  boiled  with  500  c.c.  of  water,  using  a  reflux  condenser,  for  six  hours.  The 
decoction  is  filtered,  and  the  filtrate  made  up  to  600  c.c.  Heat  to  boiling  and 
add  4  grammes  of  lead  acetate.  Attach  to  a  reflux  condenser  and  boil  ten 
minutes.  Filter  ;  take  500  c.c.  and  evaporate  to  about  50  c.c.  Remove  the  ex- 
cess of  lead  by  means  of  sodium  phosphate,  and  finally  concentrate  to  about  40 
c.c.  The  caffeine  is  then  removed  by  shaking  four  to  five  times  with  chloro- 
form. Four  portions  are  absolutely  necessary  to  ensure  complete  extraction, 
and  it  is  advisable  to  use  a  fifth." 
The  following  yields  were  obtained  by  this  process  : 
Per  Cent, 
of  Caffeine. 
(1)  Black  tea  dust   2-56 
(2)  Black  whole  tea,  Japan   2*89 
(3)  Black  Amoy,  whole  leaf   3"i4 
(4)  Green  dust   2-56 
(5)  Black  Congou,  whole  leaf     3'36 
(6)  Green  Hyson,  whole  leaf   2*10 
(7)  Green  sweepings   i'JO 
(8)  Black  Assam   3'36 
(9)  Green  dust   2  22 
(10)  Assam,  whole  leaf   4'01 
(11)  Ceylon,  whole  leaf     4'i2 
(12)  Black  dust,  Japan    1*96 
