190       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {A%Jp0rnr;iih9ani1^ 
CONSTITUENTS  OF  CORK. 
E.  Kennert  gives  (Ph.  Centralh.,  1898,  699)  a  preliminary  report 
on  investigation  of  cork,  in  which  he  confirms  the  presence  of 
vanillin,  which  is  separated  from  the  ethereal  extract  by  agitation 
with  solution  of  sodium  hyposulphite.  Evaporation  of  the  ethereal 
extract  yields  a  residue,  from  which,  with  cold  ether,  can  be  sepa- 
rated a  wax,  which,  on  boiling  with  alcoholic  potassa,  yields  an  acid 
and  an  alcohol  which  has  not  yet  been  fully  investigated. 
From  the  ethereal  residue  mentioned  above,  after  boiling  with 
sodium  carbonate  and  then  with  potassa,  washing  and  drying,  acetic 
ether  extracts  cerin,  which  the  author  purified  and  analyzed,  find- 
ing its  empiric  formula  to  be  C30H52O2  or  C^H^O^.  It  yields  an 
acetyl  and  a  benzoyl  derivative,  and  is  allied  to  physosterin. 
H.  V.  A, 
THE  ACTIVE  CONSTITUENTS  OF  DIGITALIS  LEAVES  AND  SEED. 
According  to  Kiliani  (Arch,  der  Fharm.,  233,  311)  the  leaves  of 
digitalis  contain  neither  the  so-called  Digitalin  verum  or  digitonin, 
while  Keller  (Uber  die  Wertbestunmung  von  Drogen  und  galen- 
ischen  praparaten.  Diss.  Zurich,  1 897)  states  that  digitalin  and 
digitonin  are  present.  M.  Cloetta  has  gone  into  this  knotty  problem, 
and  finds  that  the  leaves  as  well  as  the  seed  contain  digitonin,  digi- 
talin, digitoxin  and  coloring  matter  common  to  both.  He  has  not  been 
able  to  establish  the  presence  of  digitalein  in  the  leaves.  The  seed 
contains  much  more  digitalin  than  digitoxin,  while  in  the  leaves  the 
reverse  is  the  case. — 1898,  Arch.  exp.  Pathol,  u.  Pharm.y  41,  421. 
L.  F.  Kebler. 
ON  THE  VOLUMETRIC  ESTIMATION  OF  VANILLIN,  BY  WELMANS. 
The  method  is  based  on  the  well-known  property  of  vanillin  as  a 
phenol,  to  form  salts  with  one  equivalent  of  base.  The  method  is 
as  follows:  into  a  200  c.c.  glass-stoppered  flask  place  1  gramme  of 
vanillin,  add  25  c.c.  of  alcohol  and  25  c.c.  of  semi-normal  alcoholic 
potash,  and  two  or  three  drops  of  phenol-phthalein  solution. 
Insert  stopple,  shake  until  complete  solution  results.  Then  retitrate 
the  excess  of  alkali  by  means  of  a  semi-normal  hydrochloric  acid 
solution.  The  normal  factor  of  vanillin  is  0*156. — Pharm.  Ztg.y 
1898,  No.  71,  434.  L.  F.  K. 
