6io 
A  Resume  of  Recurrent  Topics. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1896. 
resin  and  oil,  and  contained  0-28  per  cent,  of  alkaloids.  The  remain- 
ing six  samples  were  prepared  according  to  the  directions  of  the 
1890  Pharmacopoeia,  they  were  almost  free  from  oil  and  resin.  The 
greatest  amount  of  alkaloids  present  was  0-31  per  cent.,  while  the 
least  amount  found  was  0  25  per  cent. 
EXAMINATION  OF  TINCTURE  OF  IODINE. 
Leon  K.  Baldauf,  Ph.G.,  on  account  of  the  change  made  in  the 
strength  of  this  tincture  in  the  last  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia, 
assayed  twenty  samples  in  order  to  ascertain  the  quality  of  the 
article  as  dispensed.  The  official  method  of  estimation  was 
employed.  In  most  cases  a  wide  departure  from  the  official  strength 
of  7  per  cent,  was  found ;  one  sample  contained  but  one-half  the 
required  amount.  Two  of  the  samples  were  stronger  than  neces- 
sary.   The  average  strength  was  579  per  cent. 
A  RESUME  OF  RECURRENT  TOPICS. 
By  Wiujam  B.  Thompson. 
Sponge. — The  consumption  of  sponges  appears  to  be  largely  in 
favor  of  the  American  market,  from  three  to  four  times  the  weight 
shipped  to  Great  Britain,  France  and  Holland  united,  being  assigned 
to  the  United  States.  This  may  be  due  to  some  extent  to  the  fact 
that  the  principal  fisheries  lie  nearest  to  our  coasts.  The  modifica- 
tion by  warmth  of  the  Gulf  Stream,  likewise  the  eastern  Mediter- 
ranean, may  have  an  important  operating  influence  on  sponge 
growth.  This  is  a  fact  worth  ascertaining.  This  may  be  said  of  the 
Americans,  which  cannot  be  said  of  all  other  nations,  that  the 
virtue  and  luxury  of  cleanliness  is  highly  esteemed  among  us  as  a 
people,  and  as  a  means  to  sanitation  and  as  an  adjunct  to  the  bath, 
the  sponge  is  both  grateful  and  useful.  Our  increasing  consump- 
tion is,  therefore,  due  to  our  appreciation,  not  our  needs.  It  goes  as 
an  accompaniment  to  refinement  and  a  higher  civilization.  It  is  an 
interesting  fact  in  the  history  of  sponge  that  a  certain  curative 
effect,  when  externally  applied,  led  to  an  investigation  and  the  dis- 
covery of  that  important  elementary  substance,  iodine,  as  one  of  its 
constituents.  Therapeutically,  the  carbonaceous  residue  of  charred 
sponge  offers  not  only  an  antiseptic  property,  but  it  should  afford, 
through  its  contained  salts,  an  effective  resolvent  for  glandular 
