Am.  Jour.  Pharm.1 
Nov.,  1884.  | 
Practical  Notes. 
597 
PRACTICAL  NOTES. 
By  the  Editoe. 
An  Antiseptic  Compound  called  antibacteride  is  made  by  C.  Aschmann 
{Dingl.  polyt.  J,  251,  p.  143)  by  heating  338  parts  borax  with  198 
glucose,  in  the  presence  of  a  small  amount  of  water,  When  the  fusion 
is  complete,  124  parts  boric  acid  is  added,  whilst  constantly  stirring, 
until  dissolved,  and  the  liquor  is  evaporated  at  a  gentle  heat  until  it 
solidifies  when  run  on  a  cold  plate.  The  resulting  mass  is  soft 
and  translucent,  forming  an  antiseptic  suitable  for  the  preservation 
of  provisions.  Its  composition  is  represented  by  the  formula 
,  C6H1206,Na2B407,3H3B03.— Jour.  Chem.  Soc. 
Use  of  Boric  Acid  for  Preserving  Food. — From  a  series  of  experi- 
ments made  with  a  view  to  determine  the  action  of  boric  acid  on  the  ani- 
mal system,  J.  Forster  (Dingl polyt.  J.,  vol.  251,  pp.  1 70-172)  draws  the 
following  conclusions  :  The  admission  of  boric  acid  as  addition  to  food, 
even  in  very  small  doses,  is  injurious  to  the  digestive  organs.  This 
injurious  action  depends  on  the  circumstance  that  boric  acid  acts  so  as 
to  materially  increase  the  proportion  of  solid  matters  and  nitrogen  in 
the  faeces  separated.  It  is  also  a  remarkable  coincidence  that  the 
action  of  boric  acid  on  the  intestinal  discharge  is  well  marked,  even  by 
the  exhibition  of  as  little  as  0*5  gram  per  diem.  Moreover,  this  action 
is  in  direct  relation  to  the  quantity  of  acid  taken,  and  is  maintained 
for  some  time  after  the  doses  of  acid  have  ceased.  The  action 
described  is  perceptible,  not  only  with  vegetable  or  animal  foods,  which 
contain  a  large  proportion  of  indigestible  ingredients,  but  also  when 
highly  digestible  food,  such  as  milk  and  eggs,  is  taken.  Food  to 
which  boric  acid  has  been  added  tends  to  cause  an  increase  in  the  secre- 
tion of  gall  during  assimilation.  Its  most  important  action,  however, 
is  the  increase  which  it  causes  in  the  discharge  of  albuminous  substances 
from  the  intestinal  canal.  From  this  it  is  evident  that  its  use  as  a 
food  preservative  is  not  as  beneficial  as  hitherto  assumed. — Jour.  Chem. 
Soc. 
Belladonine. — A.  Ladenburg  and  C.  F.  Roth  ascertained  (Ber.,  vol. 
1  7,  pp.  152-153)  that  when  this  alkaloid  or  mixture  of  alkaloids  is  boiled 
with  alkalis,  it  is  decomposed  into  tropine  and  an  oxytropine,  which 
gives  a  platinochloride,  (C8H15N02)2,H2PtCI6,  crystallizing  in  large  red 
quadratic  prisms,  readily  soluble  in  water;  the  acids  formed  at  the 
same  time  are  tropic  acid,  and  its  decomposition-products,  atropic  and 
