570 
Recent  Contributions  to  Pharmacy,  { 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
October,  1896. 
Parts  of  Copper  in 
0,000  of  the  Substance. 
Min. 
Max. 
8-6 
30 
0-  9 
1-  9 
i*5 
Winter  wheat  . 
Summer  wheat 
Barley  .  .  .  . 
Linseed  .  .  .  . 
Peas  
Mustard  seed.  . 
O'l 
2*5 
2*5 
1  "4 
°'9 
0-9 
The  authors  conclude  that,  according  to  Vedrodi,  there  is  more 
copper  naturally  present  in  many  vegetable  substances  than  is 
found  in  vegetables  to  which  it  has  been  added  to  preserve  their 
color. 
Messrs.  O.  Kunnmann  and  A.  Hilger,  in  the  Forschungs-Berichter 
p.  211,  for  July,  1896,  have  published  the  results  of  a  very  elaborate 
investigation  of  honey.  The  pains  they  have  taken  in  executing 
the  details,  and  the  care  that  was  exercised  in  securing  absolutely 
pure  material,  make  the  investigation  a  model  of  research.  Their 
work  was  chiefly  confined  to  the  detection  of  dextrin.  Many 
workers  have  found  dextrin  in  some  honey,  but  these  careful  work- 
ers have  shown  that  dextrin  is  present  in  all  honey,  whether  dex- 
tro-rotatory or  laevo- rotatory.  Nor  is  this  all ;  they  have  even 
identified  it  as  achroo-dextrin.  The  reason  that  others  have  failed 
to  find  dextrin  in  honey  was  because  they  employed  contaminated 
fermenting  agents. 
A.  Petit  and  P.  Terrat  (Jonr.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,  (6)  3,  529) 
have  published  the  results  of  their  investigation  on  the  use  of 
magnesia  and  lime  in  this  assay  process.  Their  experience  is  simi- 
lar to  that  already  reported  by  Paul  and  Cownley,1  namely,  that 
magnesia  and  lime,  either  together  or  separately,  retard  the  extrac- 
tion of  the  alkaloid  by  chloroform. 
As  pointed  out  by  Petit  and  Legrip,2  chloroform  alone  will  thor- 
oughly exhaust  tea  of  its  alkaloid,  if  a  small  amount  of  moisture  be 
present.    The  addition  of  ammonia  does  not  increase  the  yield. 
1  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Trans.,  (3)  18,  417,  and  551,  882. 
2 Bull,  de  la  Soc.  Chim.,  1877,  p.  290. 
ON  THE  CHEMISTRY  OF  HONEY. 
ON  THE  DETERMINATION  OF  CAFFEINE  IN  TEA. 
