A  janua?yPi899m'}        Crystals  of  Sodium  Chloride.  23 
per  cent,  of  tannin,  about  10  per  cent,  more  than  is  contained  in  the 
best  sumac  leaves,  it  is  mostly  used  at  the  present  time  in  the  form 
of  extract. 
There  are  large  works  for  producing  the  extract  near  Hamburg, 
Frankfort  and  in  other  parts  of  Germany. 
Quebracho  extract  is  manufactured  in  two  forms:  A  soft  paste 
containing  about  45  per  cent,  of  tannin,  and  a  solid  extract,  called 
"  crystal,"  containing  from  60  to  65  per  cent,  tannin.  The  latter 
resembles  kino  in  appearance  and  in  some  of  its  properties. 
About  twenty-five  years  ago  tanners  in  Europe  began  to  experi- 
ment with  Quebracho,  and  since  that  time  its  use  has  steadily 
grown.  The  consumption  of  it  in  the  last  five  years,  especially,  has 
increased  at  an  astonishing  rate. 
1/ 
CRYSTALS  OF  SODIUM  CHLORIDE  IN  FLUID  EXTRACT 
OF  VERBA  REUMA  AND  A  PROXIMATE 
ANALYSIS  OF  THIS  PLANT. 
By  IvYmajst  F.  Kebi.er. 
A  few  months  ago,  Mr.  Charles  Durnin,  who  has  charge  of  the 
fluid  extract  department  of  Smith,  Kline  and  French  Company, 
brought  me  a  handful  of  crystals,  with  the  statement  that  he  had 
found  them  in  a  fluid  extract  of  Yerba  Reuma.  Crystals  in  a  fluid 
extract !  This  is,  to  say  the  least,  very  unusual.  On  inquiry  it  was 
found  that  the  fluid  extract  was  about  fifteen  years  old  and  consider- 
able of  the  menstruum  had  evaporated. 
The  crystals  were  cubical,  some  of  them  nearly  perfect,  but 
amber  in  color.  The  form  suggested  common  salt  at  once,  and  a 
taste  of  one  of  the  crystals  left  no  doubt  about  its  being  salt.  It 
was  at  first  thought  that  possibly  a  menstruum  containing  salt  had 
been  used  in  preparing  the  fluid  extract,  but  a  subsequent  analysis 
of  the  plant  dispelled  this  idea. 
Frankenia  grandifolia,  Cham,  and  Schlecht.,  nat.  order  Frankeni- 
aceae,  is  the  scientific  name  for  the  plant  commonly  known  as  Yerba 
Reu>na,  or  Salt  Grass.  The  latter  name  is  also  a  common  one  for 
Bryzopyrum  spicaturn.  Yerba  Reuma  grows  near  the  seashore  from 
San  Francisco  to  San  Diego  and  southward ;  in  the  deserts  of 
Arizona,  Texas  and  Southern  Nevada. 
