Am"jui""i89iarm'}  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  351 
removed  by  a  weak  solution  of  soda.  Agitation  with  ether  dissolved 
the  quinine,  which,  being  transformed  into  the  sulphate,  presented 
the  usual  characters  of  that  compound.  It  is  notable  that  the  natural 
products  of  certain  plants  often  include  the  methylic,  but  never  the 
ethylic  group.  The  transformation  of  cupreine  into  quinine  demon- 
strates the  existence,  in  the  latter  of  the  group  (OCH3).  More  than 
this,  it  will  permit  us  to  obtain  new  bases  analogous  to  quinine, 
which,  like  that  substance,  will  constitute  cupreinic  ethers.  These 
bases  will,  perhaps,  furnish  new  resources  to  therapeutics." 
Combinations  of  Caffeine  with  Resorcin,  and  of  the  Phenols 
with  Eucalyptus  and  Antipyrine, — At  a  meeting  (Apr.  1)  of  the 
Paris  Society  of  Pharmacy,  M.  Leger  read  a  communication  from 
M.  Barbey  concerning  these  new  products.  Their  description  is 
not  yet  reported.  About  the  combinations  of  the  phenols  with 
antipyrine,  M.  Patein  observed  that  they  had  no  interest  from  a 
therapeutic  point  of  view,  from  the  fact  that  they  decompose 
rapidly  in  the  organism. 
Examination  of  Castor  Oil  for  Cotton-Seed  Oil. — Mix  10  gm.  - 
of  oil  of  ricinus  with  6  gm.  of  a  reagent,  composed  as  follows: 
Nitrate  of  silver,  5  gm. ;  nitric  acid,  1  gm. ;  alcohol,  100  gm.  This 
mixture  should  be  well  stirred,  and  placed  for  5  minutes  upon  a 
water-bath  heated  to  1 00°  C.  If  cotton-seed  oil  be  present  there 
will  be  a  red  coloration,  but  if  the  oil  of  ricinus  is  pure  there  will 
be  no  change. — Boll.  farm.  No.  xxx,  Feb.,  1 891. 
Toxicity  of  Oil  of  Salvia. — MM.  Cadeac  and  Albin  {Soci'et'e  de 
Biologie,  Apr.  1 1)  report  that  oil  of  sage  is  more  toxic  than  essence 
of  absinth,  and  gives  rise  to  attacks  of  epilepsy,  commencing  by 
tonic  and  followed  by  clonic  convulsions.  An  intravenous  injection 
of  5  cgm.,  caused  epileptiform  attacks  in  a  dog  ;  10  cgm.  determined 
several  successive  attacks  of  the  same  nature. 
Combinations  of  Alcohol  with  the  Alkaline  Sulphides. — At 
the  April  meeting  of  the  Paris  Society  of  Pharmacy,  M.  Prunier 
communicated  the  results  of  M.  Demond's  researches  on  this  sub- 
ject. The  latter  obtained  crystallized  combinations  with  these 
sulphides,  chiefly  with  the  sulphide  of  sodium.  One  of  them  con- 
tained 1  molecule  of  alcohol  and  1  of  alkaline  sulphide,  and  another 
was  formed  of  1  molecule  of  alcohol  and  9  molecules  of  sulphide. 
A  New  Reagent  for  Oxide  of  Carbon. — M.  Berthelot  [Bull,  de 
la  Societ'e  chimique,  Apr.  20)  writes  that  oxide  of  carbon  has  the 
