Am"ju°iy?i89iaim'}  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  347 
that  a  pure  glycerin  might  be  made  in  the  same  manner. — Dr.  H. 
Thorns,  Pharm.  Centralhalle,  1891,  275. 
Sterilization  of  cat-gut. — In  a  test  tube  are  put  8-10  drops  of  oil 
of  juniper  berries,  which  are  then  absorbed  by  introducing  a  little 
absorbent  cotton;  upon  the  cotton  is  placed  the  cat-gut  in  spiral- 
form,  and  the  test  tube  closed  as  tightly  as  possible  with  a  plug  of 
absorbent  cotton ;  by  placing  the  test  tube  (in  a  horizontal  position) 
in  a  sterilizing-oven  for  half  an  hour,  at  1500  C,  the  cat-gut  is 
effectively  sterilized  without  loss  of  flexibility  or  firmness. — Koch, 
Stuttgart,  Pharm.  Ztg.,  1 891,  360. 
Tincture  of  ferric  formate. — (1)  150  gm.  ferric  chloride  solution 
are  diluted  with  600  gm.  distilled  water  ;  100  gm.  water  of  ammonia 
are  diluted  with  600  gm.  distilled  water.  These  solutions,  chilled 
by  surrounding  ice,  are  allowed  to  run  in  thin  streams  into  a  vessel 
containing  three  liters  of  boiled  distilled  water ;  the  precipitate  is 
washed  by  decantation  until  free  from  chlorides,  then  collected  upon 
a  filter,  allowed  to  drain,  expressed,  transferred  to  a  vessel  contain- 
ing 100  gm.  formic  acid  (sp.  gr.  1  ■  1 8)  and  dissolved  by  stirring. 
The  solution  is  diluted  with  distilled  water  to  500  gm.,  and  500  gm. 
alcohol  added ;  after  standing,  the  clear  liquid  is  decanted  ;  this 
contains  3  per  cent,  of  ferric  formate.  If  this  preparation  be  made 
at  ordinary  temperatures  the  ferric  hydrate  does  not  dissolve  com- 
pletely, and  the  finished  preparation  has  a  tendency  to  precipitate  a 
basic  salt. 
(2)  75  gm.  formic  acid  (sp.  gr.  I- 1 8)  are  neutralized  with  35  gm. 
precipitated  calcium  carbonate,  the  calcium  formate  being  held  in 
solution  by  warming  to  300  C;  140  gm.  ferric  sulphate  solution  are 
mixed  with  300  gm.  distilled  water  and  25  gm.  formic  acid;  add  to 
this  solution  that  of  the  calcium  formate,  stirring  constantly ;  and, 
lastly,  500  gm.  alcohol ;  allow  to  stand  5-6  hours,  filter  and  wash 
the  precipitate  with  dilute  alcohol  until  the  filtrate  measures  one 
liter.  This  tincture  also  contains  3  per  cent,  ferric  formate. — M. 
Rozsnyai  (Gyogysz.  Hetilap.)  Pharm.  Post,  1891,.  402. 
Assay  of  cinchona  for  total  alkaloids.—  20  gm.  in  very  fine  powder 
are  placed  in  a  flask  holding  500  cc,  10  cc.  water  of  ammonia  (10 
per  cent.)  and  20  cc.  alcohol  (94  per  cent.)  added,  the  mixture  well 
shaken  and  170  cc.  ether  added  ;  allow  to  stand  for  2-3  hours,  occa- 
sionally shaking,  and  decant  100  cc.  of  the  clear  liquid  into  a  sepa- 
