436        Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.     { AsePtJember!'S' 
extract  was  toxic  to  frogs,  the  writer  reviews  the  confusing  nomen- 
clature of  the  plant  and  announces  the  separation  of  an  alkaloid,  as 
well  as  a  glucoside  similar  to  digitalin. 
The  separation  is  accomplished  by  treating  the  seeds,  from  which 
the  oil  (35  per  cent.)  has  been  removed  (with  petroleum  ether)  or 
the  leaves  with  65  per  cent,  alcohol.  The  alcoholic  extract  (yield 
from  leaves  26  per  cent.;  from  seed  47  per  cent.)  is  dissolved  in 
water,  the  solution  cleared  with  lead  acetate,  filtered  and  the  lead 
removed  from  the  filtrate  by  careful  addition  of  sulphuric  acid,  the 
formed  lead  sulphate  being  filtered  off.  From  the  filtrate  the  active 
principles  can  be  separated  either  by  precipitation  with  tannin  (as 
directed  by  Tanret  for  the  preparation  of  digitalin)  or  with  a  neutral 
salt  like  ammonium  sulphate,  as  recommended  by  Thomas  in  the 
manufacture  of  strophanthin.  In  both  cases  the  alkaloid  and  the 
glucoside  are  precipitated  together,  and  are  separated  from  the  pre- 
cipitant by  solution  in  2  parts  alcohol  and  1  of  ether.  These  are 
separated  by  shaking  an  aqueous  solution  with  ether  (which  dis- 
solves only  the  alkaloid,  or  by  precipitation  of  the  alkaloid  with 
phosphotungstic  acid.  The  glucoside,  cheiranthin,  thus  isolated,  is 
faintly  buff,  is  soluble  in  water,  alcohol,  chloroform  and  acetone,  and 
insoluble  in  ether  and  petroleum  ether.  It  hydrolyzes  to  a  product 
that  reduces  Fehling's  solution,  and  to  one  insoluble  in  water,  but 
soluble  in  ether.  Administered  to  a  frog,  it  affects  the  heart  as 
does  digitalin.  The  alkaloid  was  not  thoroughly  examined,  nor 
was  a  second  inert  alkaloid,  presumably  choline. 
H.  V.  A. 
SODIUM  OXALATE  AS  A  BASE  FOR  STANDARDIZING  SOLUTIONS  FOR  ACID- 
IMETRY  AND  ALKALIMETRY. 
S.  P.  L.  Sbrense  ignites  a  given  weight  of  sodium  oxalate  in  a 
platinum  crucible  and  uses  the  resulting  carbonate  in  adjusting  the 
acid.  The  advantages  claimed  are:  (1)  that  it  can  be  secured  pure 
and  dry  ;  (2)  it  does  not  contain  any  water  of  crystallization  and 
must,  therefore,  be  of  uniform  composition  ;  (3)  it  is  neither  deli- 
quescent nor  efflorescent,  consequently  the  article  can  be  kept  any 
length  of  time  without  undergoing  any  change  and  can  be  weighed 
accurately.  1898,  Rev.  de  CJiim.  Industrie  9,  304;  from  Jour.  Soc. 
Chem.  Ind.,  18,  74. 
L.  F.  Kebler. 
