Am-  Jonr.  Pharm. 
April.  W  9. 
Notes  and  News. 
xv 
Caffein  in  Tea,  Koea  and  Coffee. — J.  Gadamer  does  not  believe  {Ibid.) 
that  the  percentage  of  bound  (gebundenen)  caffein  in  the  drug  should  give  it 
particular  therapeutic  properties,  but  is  of  the  opinion  that  the  variation  of  free 
caffein  and  that  in  combination  in  tea,  coffee  and  kola  explains  the  reason  for 
such  variation  in  the  analytical  results  of  different  investigators. 
Caper  Spurge,  which  is  also  known  as  garden  spurge,  myrtle  spurge,  mole 
plant,  mole  weed,  mole  tree,  gopher  plant,  anti-gopher  plant,  wild  caper,  caper 
bush,  wolf's  milk,  springwort,  is  botanically  known  as  Euphorbia  Lathyris>  ~L,. 
It  is  a  herbaceous  perennial,  2  to  3  feet  high.  In  the  illustration  given  (which 
is  taken  with  permission  of  Professor 
Coville,  from  Bulletin  No.  2,  Division 
of  Botany,  U.  S.  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture), the  upper  half  of  the  plant, 
one-third  natural  size,  is  given,  with 
a  capsule  (b)  natural  size.  It  is  a  com- 
mon garden  plant,  sparingly  intro- 
duced in  wet  grounds  in  California 
and  Texas,  and  in  the  Atlantic  States 
from  New  Jersey  to  West  Virginia  and 
North  Carolina. 
The  fresh  milky  juice  is  exceedingly 
acrid  and  the  fruit  is  highly  purgative 
and  poisonous.  When  used  as  a  house- 
hold remedy  it  often  provokes  serious 
trouble.  Women  and  children  are  not 
infrequently  poisoned  by  handling  the 
plant  and  getting  the  j  uice  on  the  face. 
Cattle  are  quite  resistant  to  its  influ- 
ence, but  they  are  sometimes  over- 
come. Goats  will  eat  the  plant  exten- 
sively if  nothing  better  presents  itself, 
and  it  is  said  that  their  milk  then  pos- 
sesses all  of  the  venomous  properties 
of  the  plant.  When  applied  to  the 
skin  the  juice  causes  redness,  itching, 
pimples  and  sometimes  gangrene,  the 
effect  often  lasting  more  than  a  week.  The  seed  taken  internally  in  overdose 
will  inflame  the  mouth  and  stomach  and  cause  intense  diarrhoea  and  vomiting. 
If  the  dose  is  sufficient,  there  will  be  nervous  disorders,  unconsciousness,  gen- 
eral collapse  and  death. 
Aekaeoidae Determination  of  Cinchona. — H.  Kkroos  {Arch.d.  Pharm., 
1898,  p.  328)  employs  KOH  in  place  of  ammonia  and  a  freshly  prepared  solu- 
tion of  hsematoxylin  as  an  indicator.  The  method,  which  is  also  given  in  ab- 
stract in  Sudd.  Apoth.  Zeit.,  1898,  p.  649,  may  be  applied  to  extracts  of  cinchona 
as  well  as  upon  the  drug. 
Geazed  Book  Paper  Bad  for  The  Eyes. — The  effect  of  glazed  papers  on 
the  eyesight  has  recently  occupied  the  attention  of  some  German  doctors.  In 
