494  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Am'o2",rimarm' 
acid  which  is  liberated  when  salol  is  taken  into  the  system.  Salacetol, 
C6H4(OH)COOCH2COCH3,  is  made  by  heating  monochloracetone 
CH2ClCOCH3  with  sodium  salicylate  ;  it  crystallizes  from  alcohol 
in  fine  lustrous  needles,  from  benzin  in  scales ;  it  dissolves  only 
slightly  in  cold  water  and  cold  alcohol ;  it  is  more  soluble  in  these 
solvents  when  hot ;  it  is  easily  soluble  in  ether,  carbondisulphide, 
chloroform,  benzole,  benzin,  etc.  It  has  a  slightly  bitter  taste 
and  melts  at  71  °  C.  The  aqueous  solution  gives  a  violet  color 
with  ferric  chloride  ;  agitation  with  dilute  solution  of  sodium  hydrate 
(06  per  cent.)  saponifies  it,  yielding  a  clear  solution  which  upon 
acidifying  with  hydrochloric  acid  separates  approximately  seventy- 
five  per  cent,  salicylic  acid.  The  dose  for  an  adult  is  2-0-3  0  gm., which 
administered  with  30-0  castor  oil  has  been  found  very  successful  in 
the  treatment  of  diarrhoea ;  the  dose  is  taken  before  breakfast  and 
can  be  repeated  for  several  days;  0-5  gm.  is  a  harmless  daily  dose 
for  a  child  one  year  old. — Pharm.  Ztg.,  1893,  496. 
The  presence  of  indie  an  in  plants  can  be  ascertained  by  boiling  a 
few  fragments  of  the  plant  in  a  test  tube  for  about  one-half  minute 
with  a  dilute  solution  of  ammonia  made  by  diluting  the  official 
ammonia  water  with  49  volumes  of  water ;  after  filtering  and  cool- 
ing the  decoction  is  agitated  with  chloroform.  The  same  operation 
substituting  two  per  cent,  hydrochloric  acid  for  the  diluted  ammonia 
is  made  with  another  portion  of  the  plant ;  if  indican  be  present  the 
chloroform  layer  of  one  or  of  both  of  these  tests  will  be  colored 
blue  or  violet.  The  fact  that  the  indican  of  some  plants  is  decom- 
posed by  ammonia,  while  in  others  it  is  not,  indicates  that  the  indi- 
can of  all  plants  may  not  be  identical. 
The  recurring  statements  that  the  following  plants  contain  indi- 
can is  declared  to  be  erroneous :  Mercurialis  perennis,  Melampyrum 
arvense,  Polygonum  Fagopyrum,  Phytolacca  decandra,  Monotropa 
Hypopitys,  Fraxinus  excelsior,  Coronilla  Emerus  and  Amorpha 
fructicosa. 
A  chromogene,  yielding  with  dilute  hydrochloric  a  blue  coloring 
principle  which  differs  entirely  from  indigo,  was  found  in  Lathraea 
Squamaria ;  probably  the  same  chromogene  is  present  in  Rhinan- 
thus  crista  galli,  Melampyrum  nemorosum,  M.  silvaticum,  Bartsia 
alpina,  Euphrasia  officinalis,  Utricularia  vulgaris,  Galium  Mullugo 
and  Monotropa  Hypopitys. — Prof.  Hans  Molisch,  Oesterr.  Ztschr.f 
Pharm.y  1893,  5  2  3- 
