86         Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {AFebr0uarrj?Sm' 
should  require  on  titration  i8'6-I9-3  c.c.  y2  normal  sulphuric  acid 
(corresponding  to  acid  number  160  to  180). 
Myrrh. — Not  more  than  70  per  cent,  insoluble  in  alcohol.  Maxi- 
mum ash,  10  per  cent.  Ethereal  solution  of  alcoholic  extract  turns 
red  and  violet  with  bromine  vapors. 
Damar. — 1  gramme  mixed  with  50  c.c,  benzin,  10  c.c.  y2  normal 
alcoholic  potassa  and  10  c.c.  yz  normal  aqueous  potassa,  after 
standing  twenty-four  hours,  should  require  for  neutralization  19  to 
19  3  c.c.  y2  normal  sulphuric  acid  (corresponding  to  acid  number 
20  to  30). 
Storax. — Not  more  than  2-5  per  cent,  insoluble  in  alcohol.  Not 
less  than  70  per  cent,  should  remain  on  evaporation  of  alcoholic 
solution  (as  in  U.S. P.).  Not  more  than  30  per  cent,  volatile.  There 
should  be  no  ash. 
Impentine. — 10  grammes  turpentine  P.  G.  (which  is  semi-fluid) 
should  solidify  on  addition  of  2  grammes  finely-powdered  slaked 
lime.  H.  V.  A. 
EXAMINATION  OF  HYDRASTIS. 
Schmidt  (Ph.  Zeit.,  1898,  339)  has  assayed  golden  seal  to  decide 
relative  merits  of  rhizome  and  rootlets.  He  found  rhizome  and 
rootlets  yielded  19-25  per  cent,  extract  and  2*69  per  cent,  hydras- 
tin  ;  the  rhizome  alone  22-75  per  cent,  and  2  75  per  cent,  respectively, 
and  the  rootlets  alone  15-50  per  cent,  and  1*2  per  cent.   H.  V.  A. 
THE  FLOWERS  OF  DATURA  ALBA. 
This  plant,  closely  allied  to  our  official  stramonium,  is  largely 
cultivated  in  Germany,  by  reason  of  its  handsome  flowers,  which, 
unlike  our  species,  are  very  fragrant.  Hesse  (Pharm.  Zeit.,  1898, 
340)  states  that  in  China  and  India,  the  habitat  of  the  plant,  it  is 
used  medicinally  and  for  illegal  purposes.  He  lends  force  to  this 
statement  by  extraction  of  hyosceine  in  considerable  quantities. 
H.  V.  A. 
CONSTITUENTS  OF  SENEGA. 
A  careful  investigation  of  senega  is  reported  by  Jos.  Kain  (Ph. 
Post,  1898,  329,  341).  He  states  the  sugar  of  senega  is  chiefly 
saccharose  (as  shown  by  H.  J.  Schroeder,  A.  J.  P.,  April,  1896),  and 
finds,  besides  senegin  and  polygalic  acid,  a  laevogyre  glucoside, 
which  hydrolyses  to  two  bodies — insoluble  in  water  and  not  closely 
examined — and  a  dextrogyre  sugar.    As  the  new  glucoside  was  first 
