xvi 
Notes  and  News. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1899. 
comparing  these  papers  with  those  in  use  in  the  earlier  part  of  the  century, 
which  were  mostly  of  a  dull  gray  or  blue  color  and  coarse-grained,  requiring 
thicker  type,  they  point  out  that  the  highly  glazed  surface  offers  reflections  of 
the  light  which,  with  the  more  elaborate  and  thinner  type,  produce  a  lot  of 
shades  and  lights  that  are  most  trying  to  the  eye.  It  is,  therefore,  proposed 
that  the  public  inspectors  of  schools  should  order  the  use  of  sanitary  paper  for 
the  eyes,  by  which  it  is  meant  that  a  glazed  or  highly  polished  surface  should 
be  avoided,  and  the  colors  chosen  should  rather  be  gray  or  light  blue,  but  no 
white,  and,  in  fact,  no  brilliant  colors  at  all.  The  type  should  be  clear  and 
simple  and  not  too  thin.—  Invention  through  Sci.  Amer.,  December  17,  1898. 
Aekaeoid  OF  LETTUCE. — In  an  inaugural  dissertation  presented  by  A.  F.  P. 
van  Sou  at  the  University  of  Marburg,  the  author  deals  very  freely  with  the 
derivatives  of  the  tropins,  but  the  parts  which  most  interest  pharmacists 
(Chem.  and  Drug.,  1898,  p.  243)  are  on  Scopolia  atropoides  herb  and  common 
lettuce,  both  of  which  have  been  reported  to  contain  hyoscyamine.  Dr.  van 
Sou  has  gone  most  carefully  into  the  matter,  and  finds  that  the  scopolia  herb 
contains  0*1258  per  cent,  of  atropine,  but  no  hyoscyamine.  T.  S.  Dymond 
previously  reported  to  the  Chemical  Society  that  he  had  found  hyoscyamine  in 
them.  Dr.  van  Sou  has  now  repeated  the  work,  and  while  he  was  able  to  iso- 
late a  small  quantity  of  an  alkaloid,  he  finds  that  this  alkaloid  is  not  hyoscya- 
mine, as  Dymond  stated,  but  atropine,  because  the  double  gold  chloride  which 
the  alkaloid  affords  has  a  M.  P.  of  i34°-i4o°  C,  which  agrees  with  that  of 
atropine  gold  chloride  (i36°-i38°  C),  but  not  with  that  of  hyoscyamine  gold 
chloride  (i59°-i6o°  C).  Curiously,  Dr.  van  Sou's  results  corroborate  the  ob- 
servations which  gave  rise  to  Dymond's  research.  It  may  be  remembered  that 
Frank  B.  Thornton  had  occasion  to  examine  an  extract  of  lettuce  supplied  by 
a  certain  firm  and  isolated  0*03  per  cent,  of  alkaloid  from  it  which  he  identi- 
fied as  atropine.  The  experiments  of  Dymond  went  to  show  that  the  alkaloid 
present  was  hyoscyamine  and  the  factors  given  in  his  paper  undoubtedly 
proved  that  the  alkaloid  was  not  atropine.  Against  these  results  of  Thornton  we 
now  have  the  opinion  of  two  independent  observers  :  which  are  we  to  accept 
Anemonin. — Noel  and  Lambert  (Arch.  Internat.  de  Pharmacodyn.  Through 
Pract.,  lxi,  74)  conclude  that  anemonin  is  not  the  sole  active  principle  of  Ane- 
mone Pulsatilla,  and  that  it  does  not  pre-exist  in  the  plant.  By  distillation,, 
an  acrid  oil  (anemonol)  comes  over,  which,  probably  by  subsequent  oxidation, 
produces  anemonin.  The  observed  pharmacological  results  obtained  with  ane- 
monin and  with  the  tincture  of  the  plant  are  quite  different.  It  is  concluded 
that  anemonin  does  not  represent  the  whole  therapeutic  value  of  the  plant. — 
Pharm.  Jour.,  1898,  p.  217. 
Geranium  Oil. — Flatau  and  Labbe"  (Compt.  rend.,  cxxvi,  1876)  contradict 
the  statement  of  Schimmel  &  Co.  that  the  chief  acid  constituents  of  Indian 
geranium  oil  are  equal  parts  of  acetic  and  caproic  acids.  They  find  the  chief 
ester  to  be  a  compound  of  geraniol  with  an  isomer  of  myristic  acid,  from  which 
the  acid  differs  only  in  having  a  lower  M.  P.,  being  28-2°  C,  instead  of  53"8°  C. 
The  formula  is  CuH2802.  Besides  this,  acetic  acid  and  traces  of  valerianic  acid 
were  isolated.  Bourbon  geranium  oil  did  not  give  this  new  body,  but  about 
1  per  cent,  of  another  acid  having  the  formula  C10HlfeO2,  half  of  which  exists  in 
the  free  state  and  the  rest  as  a  geranyl  ester. — Ibid.,  1898,  p.  217. 
