452  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {Amsijt.? 
Pharm. 
quantity  exactly  calculated  to  saturate  the  alkali  in  excess  and  dis- 
place one  molecule  of  acrylic  acid.  The  liquid  is  then  distilled  until 
litmus  is  scarcely  reddened,  when  about  four  litres  of  aqueous  solu- 
tion of  pure  acrylic  acid  will  have  been  obtained.  The  analysis  of 
the  acrylates  of  lead  and  sodium  gave,  respectively,  the  following 
results,  showing  the  purity  of  the  acid : 
Per  cent,  of  Pb,  59 '45  found  ;  59*24  calculated. 
Na,  24-32     "  24-47 
— Jour,  de  pharm.  et  de  chim.,  July,  1893,  p.  16. 
Emulsion  of  creosote  by  means  of  casein  saccharate  is  prepared  by 
M.  Leger,  by  adding  10  gm.  each  of  saccharate  of  casein  and  water 
to  a  mixture  consisting  of  10  gm.  each  of  creosote  and  alcohol. 
When,  after  several  seconds'  agitation,  the  emulsion  is  complete, 
sufficient  water  is  added  to  make  one  liter.  This  preparation  can 
be  administered  either  by  the  mouth  or  rectally,  and  remains 
unchanged  for  a  long  time. —  L union  pharm. ,  July,  1893,  p.  297. 
Zirconium  is  prepared  by  L.  Troost  {Jour,  de  pharm.  et  de  chim., 
July,  1893,  p.  76)  by  mixing  intimately  a  quantity  of  zircon  and 
the  carbon  of  burnt  sugar,  and  submitting  this  to  the  action  of 
electricity  under  a  slow  current  of  carbonic  acid  gas,  when  the 
reaction  takes  place  at  once,  producing  a  carbide  of  the  formula, 
ZrC2;  this  is  then  decarbonized  by  the  further  gradual  addition  of 
zircon.  The  product  is  steel-gray  and  extremely  hard  ;  unalterable 
at  ordinary  temperatures,  burns  with  a  bright  flame,  when  it  is 
carbonized,  and  is  attacked  by  hydrofluoric  acid,  even  when  this  is 
very  dilute. 
Thorium  is  prepared  by  the  same  process  from  thorine,  the  product 
being  less  hard  than  zirconium,  decomposing  water  and  altering  in 
contact  with  moist  air.  On  remelting  the  thorium  carbide  with  an 
excess  of  thorine,  a  small  quantity  of  a  metallic  substance  was 
obtained  which  was  not  altered  by  air. 
Selenium  was  submitted  to  the  action  of  three  solvents  for  ten 
hours,  at  the  end  of  which  time  it  was  found  that  an  abundant  pre- 
cipitate had  been  yielded  by  potassium  carbonate  solution,  while 
dilute  lactic  acid  dissolved  a  notably  smaller  quantity,  and  saliva  only 
traces.  Physiological  experiments  proved  it  to  be  much  more  toxic 
than  sulphur,  while  in  certain  skin  diseases,  used  as  a  salve  in  the 
proportion  of  2  gm.  precipitated  selenium  to  30  gm.  vaseline,  it  was 
