228  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {AmMay?i!9b3arm' 
incomplete.  However,  judging  from  the  increase  in  the  results, 
they  hope  it  will  not  be  impossible  to  surmount  the  difficulties. — 
your,  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,  March,  1893,  P-  297- 
Estimation  of  hydrochloric  acid  in  the  gastric  juice. —  S.  Mizerski 
and  L.  Nencki,  in  a  critical  review  of  the  various  methods  employed 
for  this  purpose,  consider  the  colorimetric  methods  without  value  in 
clinical  examinations.  They  have  found  the  chlorometric  method 
of  Hayens  and  Winter  (see  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy,  1 892, 
p.  241)  the  most  satisfactory,  since  it  permits  the  estimation  of 
chlorine  in  all  its  chemical  combinations  even  when  only  a  small 
quantity  of  the  gastric  juice  is  operated  upon. — Gaz.  Lekarska, 
through  Rev.  intern,  de  bibliog.  m'cd.,  March,  1893,  p.  IOO. 
Synthetic  guaiacol  is  prepared  by  Behal  and  Choay  by  dissolving 
58  gm.  of  sodium  in  600  gm.  methyl  alcohol,  and  adding  270  gm. 
of  pyrocatechin,  also  previously  dissolved  in  methyl  alcohol.  The 
mixture  is  heated  to  120-1300  C.  with  an  excess  of  methyl  iodide; 
allow  it  to  cool  and  recover  the  alcohol  by  distillation.  Treat  the 
residue  with  sodium  oxide  and  agitate  the  sodic  solution  with  ether 
to  remove  a  small  quantity  of  veratrol  present.  The  guaiacol  is 
liberated  by  means  of  hydrochloric  acid,  and  then  distilled.  If  the 
portion  passing  over  at  205 0  to  2070  is  cooled  by  means  of  methyl 
chloride,  the  product  obtained  in  crystals  consists  of  pure  guaiacol. 
It  is  a  white,  wTell-crystallized  solid,  fusible  at  28*5°  and  boiling  at 
205 0  C. — Rep.  de  Pharm.,  March,  1893,  P-  101  • 
Tropacocaine  renders  valuable  service  as  a  local  anaesthetic, 
according  to  Dr.  Hugenschmidt  in  Semaine  medicate.  He  uses  tro- 
pacocaine o-io  gm.,  and  distilled  water  2  50  gm.,  of  which  prepara- 
tion ten  drops  are  used  for  an  injection.  The  advantages  of  its  use 
as  compared  with  cocaine  are,  (1)  in  a  dose  sufficient  for  producing 
anaesthesia  it  is  much  less  toxic  than  cocaine,  and  its  action  on  the 
vital  functions  is  but  little  marked;  (2)  it  produces  local  anaesthesia 
more  rapidly  and  more  profound  than  cocaine,  while  it  is  of  an  equal 
duration  ;  (3)  the  solution  of  tropacocaine  for  anaesthetic  injections 
can  be  preserved  for  several  months  by  reason  of  its  antiseptic 
nature,  while  cocaine  shows  signs  of  decomposition  and  loss  of 
analgesic  properties  after  four  or  five  days. — Nouv.  rem.,  Feb.,  1893, 
p.  56. 
Paico. — This  name  designates,  in  Chile,  the  two  species  Ambrina 
ambrosioides  and  A.  chilensis.    The  parts  of  the  plants  employed 
