286  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Am'ju°ne,'i89iarm" 
Galega  officinalis  as  a  Galactagogue. — Dr.  Carron  de  la 
Carriere  {Jour,  de  Med.,  April)  has  obtained  results  from  the  use  of 
galega,  which  lead  him  to  hope  for  its  restoration  to  therapeutic  use. 
He  used  the  aqueous  extract  (equal  to  one-fifth  of  the  weight  of  the 
dry  plant),  making  it  from  the  fresh  plant.  The  extract  has  a  pro- 
nounced odor,  is  very  soluble  in  water,  is  incompletely  so  in  alcohol, 
and  is  given  in  quantities  of  I  to  4  gm.  daily,  in  fractional  doses  of 
50  cgm.  to  1  gm. 
Toxic  Action  of  Nickel  Carbonyl. — At  the  meeting  of  March 
21,  of  the  Societe  de  Biologie,  MM.  Hanriot  and  Ch.  Richet  stated 
that  30  cgm.  of  this  substance  injected  into  the  veins  of  a  dog  caused 
death  in  one  hour.  Larger  injections  caused  immediate  death. 
Instilled  into  the  eye,  it  acts  as  a  caustic,  but  does  not  produce 
immediate  death  ;  it  seems  to  be  difficult  of  absorption.  Nickel 
carbonyl  is  not  easy  to  handle,  not  so  much  because  it  is  an 
explosive,  for  its  explosions  are  neither  violent  nor  dangerous,  but 
because  its  vapor  gives  rise  to  severe  headaches.  It  acts  by  dis- 
placing the  oxygen  of  haemoglobin.  But  it  is  not  yet  known 
whether  the  combination  formed  with  haemoglobin  is  one  in  which 
the  oxide  of  carbon  alone  intervenes,  or  one  in  which  the  molecular 
group  of  nickel  carbonyl,  as  a  whole,  is  involved. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Frank  X.  Moerk,  Ph.G. 
Chloral-phenol  or  chloral-carbolic  acid  is  made  by  triturating 
equal  weights  of  chloral  hydrate  and  pure  carbolic  acid ;  it  forms  a 
colorless,  viscid  liquid,  specific  gravity  at  200  C.  =  1-289;  it 
possesses  prominently  the  odor  of  chloral  hydrate,  has  a  sweet, 
caustic  taste  and  placed  upon  the  skin  produces  irritation  and 
blisters.  It  is  readily  miscible  with  alcohol,  acetic .  acid,  amylic 
alcohol,  chloroform,  carbon  disulphide  and  ether  ;  in  the  latter  case 
considerable  heat  is  developed ;  it  is  insoluble  in  petroleum  ether 
Its  alcoholic  solution  with  strong  sulphuric  acid  colors  the  latter 
beautifully  red.  Chloral-phenol,  in  small  quantity,  coagulates 
albumen  ;  an  excess  again  dissolves  it. — E.  Fabini,  Pharm.  Post, 
1891,  261. 
Aloins. — According  to  researches  of  Groenewold  the  aloins  from 
Barbadoes  and  Curacao  aloes  melt  at  1400  C.  and  probably  have 
