49°               Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Am,octua£3.a 
Total  Mixed  Alkaloids. 
No.                                                                               Root.  Stem. 
8,  picked,                                                      2*28  — 
9,  "                                                           —  176 
IO,                                                                                           2*22  — 
11,  picked,                                                         —  1*02 
Mean,   2-n  1*25 
So  far  as  we  are  in  a  position  to  form  an  opinion  on  the  point 
above  referred  to,  from  the  analytical  examination  of  a  compara- 
tively small  number  of  samples  of  ipecacuanha,  we  are  inclined  to 
the  conclusion  that  the  percentage  amount  of  alkaloid  in  ipeca- 
cuanha root  does  not  vary  very  much  from  2  per  cent.,  as  shown  by 
the  results  given  in  the  foregoing  table. 
The  picked  samples  consisted  entirely  of  either  root  or  stem 
respectively.  The  other  samples  of  root  were  operated  upon  without 
separating  any  admixture  of  stem  that  might  be  present ;  but  it  was 
not  in  any  case  sufficient  to  affect  the  result  very  materially.  Two 
of  the  samples  of  stem  were  carefully  picked  to  separate  any  par- 
ticles of  root;  but  the  other  sample,  No.  9,  was  found,  after  the 
analysis  had  been  completed,  to  contain  a  considerable  admixture 
of  portions  of  root  bark,  and  that  circumstance  probably  accounts 
for  the  higher  amount  of  alkaloid  obtained  in  that  instance. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Frank  X.  Moerk,  Ph.G. 
B enzom-alumina  cotton  a  substitute  for  the  ferric  chloride  cotton, 
is  recommended  by  Giulio  Morpurgo  as  a  haemostatic  preparation, 
because  it  is  efficient  and  at  the  same  time  does  not  stain  the  con- 
tainers. It  is  made  by  boiling  the  solution  of  aluminum  acetate 
with  benzoin,  straining,  and  at  once  impregnating  the  cotton.  The 
prepared  cotton  is  white  and  has  a  very  pleasant  odor ;  a  consider- 
able quantity  of  finely  divided  benzoin  is  separated  upon  the  fibres, 
assisting  by  a  mechanical  action  the  astringent  properties  of  the 
alumina. — Pharm.  Post,  1893,  357. 
Test  for  sugar  in  urine. — Several  years  ago  Ihl  observed  that 
methylene  blue  in  aqueous  alkaline  solution  was  decolorized  by  a 
number  of  carbohydrates,  including  dextrose,  laevulose,  lactose, 
invert  sugar,  dextrin,  etc.;  Herzfeld  and  Wohl  later  determined 
