454  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  { Am'Sept.?i893arm" 
of  the  wine  to  be  examined  added,  and  the  tint  of  the  liquid  noted 
by  transmitted  light  or  against  a  white  background.  By  this  test 
natural  wine  gives  only  a  slight  grayish  tint  ;  fuchsine,  intense  rose- 
red  ;  cochineal,  red  ;  haematoxylon,  violet-red ;  hollyhock,  bluish- 
green  ;  red  poppy,  faint,  pale  brown ;  phytolacca,  rose-violet ; 
aniline  violet,  bluish-violet.  The  hydrometric  solution  employed 
must  be  of  neutral  reaction  and  must  not  contain  a  free  alkali,  since 
the  latter  would  give  the  wine  a  green  coloration.  One  cgm.  of 
colorant  per  litre  of  wine  can  be  detected  by  this  test. — Bull,  de  la 
Soc.  de  Pharm.  de  Bord.y  June,  1893,  p.  175. 
Artificial  coloring  matters  in  butter  can,  according  to  a  writer  in 
le  genie  civil,  be  determined  by  the  following  tests  :  If  a  certain 
quantity  of  butter  be  agitated  with  alcohol,  and  after  standing  for 
a  few  minutes  the  alcohol  decanted  and  evaporated  over  a  flame, 
the  butter  will  yield  nothing  to  alcohol.  If  it  is  colored  with 
annotto  the  addition  of  sulphuric  acid  will  cause  a  red  brown 
deposit.  The  presence  of  curcumin  will  produce  a  deep  red  residue 
with  hydrochloric  acid,  and  intense  brown  with  potassium  and 
sodium,  while  subacetate  of  lead  will  cause  a  red  precipitate  if  saffro?i 
be  the  coloring  matter,  and  alkali  a  green  one  in  presence  of  carrot, 
as  a  coloring  agent. — Bull,  de  la  Soc.  de  Pharm.  de  Bordeaux,  June, 
1893,  p.  189. 
Mururc  is  the  name  given  by  the  natives  to  a  Brazilian  tree,  the 
botanical  source  of  which  is  unknown.  The  bark  presents  a  brick- 
red  color,  with  darker  patches  on  the  outer  surface  ;  internally  it  is 
fibrous,  grayish  and  rather  hard.  Upon  incision  a  reddish,  syrupy 
liquid  exudes,  which  is  of  acid  reaction,  i-ioo  density,  and  is  called 
vegetable  mercury.  The  physiological  experiments  show  it  to  be 
poisonous,  injections  of  the  neutralized  juice  having  caused  death  in 
various  animals.  The  authors  have  detected  the  presence  of  an 
alkaloid,  besides  other  principles. — H.  Cathelineau  and  C.  Rebour- 
geon  ;  Lunion  pharm.,  July,  1893,  p.  333. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS.  — 
By  Frank  X.  Moerk,  Ph.G. 
Zinc  borate  is  obtained  as  a  precipitate  by  mixing  hot  filtered 
solutions  of  25  gm.  zinc  sulphate  in  250  gm.  distilled  water 
and  20  gm.  borax  in  500  gm.  distilled  water ;  the  precipitate  is 
washed  with  cold  distilled  water  until  the  washings  give  no  further 
