AnAUJg°usr{j896!'m"}    Recent  Contributions  to  Pharmacy.  455 
The  ferment  in  Monotropa  is  extracted  by  rubbing  the  fresh  plant 
with  clean,  dry  sand,  and  at  once  throwing  into  strong  alcohol. 
After  a  half-hour's  standing  the  mixture  is  filtered,  washed  with 
alcohol  and  then  with  ether.  The  residual  powder  contains  the  fer- 
ment mixed  with  sand.  When  this  powder  is  added  to  some  of  the 
solution  containing  the  glucoside  of  methyl  salicylate  the  odor  of 
methyl  salicylate  is  developed.  A  ferment  also  exists,  as  shown  by 
the  author,  in  at  least  two  species  of  Polygala,  and  when  this  ferment 
is  added  to  the  glucoside  from  Monotropa,  the  odor  of  methyl  sali- 
cylate is  developed.  The  following  plants  also  contain  the  ferment 
as  found  by  the  author,  and  in  confirmation  of  the  results  of  Proc- 
ter1 and  Schneegans  and  Gerock  :2 
Gaultheria  procumbens,  Betula  lenta,  Polygala  senega  and  Spiraea 
ulmaria. 
GLYCEROPHOSPHORIC  ACID  AND  GLYCEROPHOSPHATES. 
Delage  and  Gaillard  (Nouveaux  Remcdes,  1896,  p.  217)  have 
devised  a  shorter  method  of  preparing  these  compounds  than  that 
previously  published  by  Portes  and  Prunier  (Am.  Jour.  Pharm., 
1894,  p.  383).  According  to  the  new  process,  1  part  of  60  per  cent, 
phosphoric  acid  is  mixed  in  a  glass  flask  with  I  y2  parts  of  glycerin, 
whereby  the  temperature  is  raised  from  an  initial  temperature  of  150 
to  25 °.  The  flask  is  then  fitted  with  a  thermometer  and  a  tube  for 
the  escape  of  gases ;  heat  is  then  applied  so  as  to  raise  the  tem- 
perature of  the  mixture  gradually.  At  1 20°  it  begins  to  boil  and 
becomes  pale  yellow;  at  1600  it  is  dark  yellow,  and  at  1900  it  is 
brown,  has  a  syrupy  consistence,  and  gives  off  the  vapors  of  acrolein. 
In  forty  minutes  it  is  possible  to  combine  a  mixture  of  100  grammes 
of  phosphoric  acid  and  150  grammes  of  glycerin.  When  the  mix- 
ture is  cooled  a  viscous  mass  is  obtained.  The  product  is  treated 
with  30  grammes  of  a  mixture  obtained  by  stirring  50  grammes  of 
calcium  carbonate  into  250  c.c.  of  water.  The  mixture  is  agitated 
and  allowed  to  stand  six  hours,  or  until  effervescence  ceases,  when  it 
is  filtered.  The  resulting  limpid  liquid  is  treated  with  half  its  vol- 
ume of  90  per  cent,  alcohol,  whereupon  the  calcium  glycerophos- 
phate is  precipitated  in  flocks.  This  precipitate  is  collected  on  a 
filter,  washed  with  alcohol,  dissolved  in  water,  and  the  glycerophos- 
1  Am.  Jour.  Pharmacy,  1844,  P-  24r- 
2  Archiv  der  Pharmacie,  1894,  p.  437  and  Am.  Jour.  Pharmacy,  1895,  p.  14. 
