o™tobeTi^2o""  }      ^ews  Items  and  Personal  Notes.  757 
distillation  gives  all  the  formaldehyde  in  the  first  40  Cc.  The  final 
distillate  is  then  tested  by  the  same  reagents  as  given  above  under 
examination  of  liquors,  omitting  the  hexamethylenetetramine-mer- 
curic  chloride  test. 
Full  details  are  given  for  the  preparation  and  employment  of  the 
various  reagents,  which  are  classed  according  to  their  reliability, 
sensitiveness,  and  ease  of  application.  (From  The  Analyst,  August, 
1920.) 
A  Source  of  Error  in  the  SulphosaucyIvIC  Acid  Tkst  for 
Albumin  in  Urine. — Schall  reports  that  sulphosalicylic  acid  when 
combined  with  urine  containing  large  amounts  of  calcium  produces 
a  precipitate  Which  so  closely  resembles  albumin  as  to  cause  con- 
fusion. The  precipitate  is,  however,  denser  than  any  sediment  or 
other  clinical  findings.  Control  tests  with  other  albumin  reactions, 
heating,  or  previous  dilution  of  the  urine,  serve  to  avoid  diagnostic 
errors.  (From  Munchener  mediziniscke  Wochenschrift,  Munich,  Feb- 
ruary 6,  1920,  67,  No.  6;  through  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  August 
28,  1920.) 
Comparison  of  Recent  Staining  Procedures  for  Tubercle 
Bacilli. — ^Jotten  and  Haarmann  commend  their  modification  of  the 
Spengler  method  for  the  demonstration  of  tubercle  bacilli.  After 
the  smear  has  been  stained  in  the  usual  manner  with  carbolfuchsin 
solution  it  is  decolorized  (twenty  seconds)  with  a  15  per  cent,  nitric 
acid  solution.  It  is  then  briefly  rinsed  and  again  treated  for  ten 
seconds  with  nitric  acid;  rinsed  again  and  afterward  counterstained 
for  about  thirty  seconds  in  Spengler' s  picric  acid-alcohol  mixture 
(saturated  aqueous  picric  acid  and  absolute  alcohol,  equal  parts). 
The  smear  is  again  rinsed  and  allowed  to  dry  and  is  now  ready  for 
microscopic  study.  Out  of  170  sputum  specimens  the  Ziehl-Neelsen 
method  yielded  fifty -nine  positives  and  the  Spengler  original  method 
gave  sixty-one,  whereas  the  modification  just  described  furnished 
sixty-two  positives.  Furthermore,  the  average  number  of  bacilli 
visible  in  the  field  was  thirty-one  for  the  modification,  twenty-six 
for  the  Spengler  original  method  and  only  thirteen  by  the  Ziehl- 
Neelsen  method.  (From  Munchener  medizinische  Wochenschrift, 
Munich,  June  11,  1920,  67,  No.  24;  through  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc., 
August  28,  1920.) 
Purification  of  Benzoic  Acid  by  Fractional  Condensa- 
tion.— Benzoic  acid,  made  by  the  chlorination  of  toluene,  is  con- 
