548       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {XvJembef,hi899a* 
NEUTRAL  SODIUM  PHOSPHATE. 
Having  frequently  received  orders  for  pure  neutral  sodium  phos- 
phate, Mr.  Brunner  decided  to  prepare  such  an  article,  if  possible. 
The  purest  article  available  was  dissolved  in  water  and  phosphoric 
acid  added  until  a  decided  acid  reaction  to  litmus  was  obtained. 
On  concentrating  and  crystallizing  from  this  acid  solution,  the  crys- 
tals gave  a  red  coloration  with  phenolphtalein.  From  this  it 
would  seem  that  the  preparation  of  a  neutral  sodium  phosphate  is 
apparently  impractical.    1898,  Ztschr.  anal.  Chem.t  37,  740. 
L.  F.  K. 
SOLANINE  IN  POTATOES. 
Sound  potatoes  of  the  crops  of  1897  ar,d  1898  were  boiled,  peeled 
and  the  solanine  extracted  by  the  method  of  G.  Meyer  (Arch.f.  Path, 
und  Pharm.,  up,  361),  and  there  was  obtained,  respectively,  0-02 
and  0-026  of  a  gramme  per  kilogramme.  Selenium-sulphuric  acid 
gave  a  fine  red  coloration  on  warming,  and  phosphomolybdate  pro- 
duced a  yellow  precipitate.  A  very  reliable  reaction  for  solanine  is 
a  solution  of  telluric  acid  in  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  This  gives  an 
intense  raspberry-red  coloration  when  warmed  on  the  water-bath. 
This  color  lasts  from  two  to  three  hours,  and  is  not  given  by  the 
more  common  alkaloids,  such  as  atropine,  morphine,  quinine,  etc. — 
Dr.  Bauer,  1899,  Ztschr.  f.  angewand.  Chem.,  No.  5,  99. 
L.  F.  K. 
DIGESTIVE  FERMENTS  OR  ENZYMS. 
Dr.  H.  Leffmann,  in  the  Jour,  of  Franklin  Inst.,  14.7,  gy  (1899), 
reports  some  very  interesting  results  on  the  interfering  reaction  of 
certain  food  preservatives,  especially  on  starch  digestion.  The  ex- 
periments were  conducted  under  uniform  conditions,  as  far  as  was 
possible  by  laboratory  methods.  A  10  per  cent,  arrow-root  starch 
solution  was  made  fresh  daily  and  employed  in  all  investigations. 
The  enzyms  employed  were  malt  diastase,  taka-diastase,  pan- 
creatic extract,  peptenzym,  a  preparation  containing  all  of  the 
enzyms  of  the  alimentary  tract  and  carase,  the  pawpaw  enzym,  sold 
under  the  trade  name  "  Caroid."  Pepsin  and  the  pineapple  ferment 
were  also  experimented  with,  but  the  results  were  not  considered 
worth  reporting. 
The  antiseptics  used  were  saccharine,  /9-naphthol,  formalin,  artifi- 
