Am'octu,ri8P9Larm-}       Copper  in  Preserved  Vegetables.  493 
serves  made  with  or  without  sugar  are  insoluble,  and  therefore  not 
of  importance. 
Herr  Kayser  pointed  out  that  in  the  consumption  of  preserves  con- 
taining copper  it  was  not  water  or  a  concentrated  sugar  solution 
that  came  into  question,  but  the  digestive  juice,  in  which  the  author's 
experiments  had  not  proved  the  copper  compounds  to  be  insoluble. 
The  author  said  that  no  copper  pissed  from  preserved  vegetables 
into  dilute  acids. 
Herr  Hilger  (Erlangen)  recalled  that  all  albuminoid  substances 
form  insoluble  compounds  with  copper,  and  that  said  copper  must  be 
considered  a  normal  constituent  of  the  human  body,  a  remark  in 
which  he  was  supported  by  Professor  Medicus,  of  Wurzburg. 
Director  Kochler  (Berlin)  advised  that  in  the  fixing  of  a  maximum 
limit  of  that  kind  regard  should  be  had  to  the  maximum  dose  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia.  It  was  one  thing  for  a  poisonous  substance  to  be 
present  in  an  alimentary  substance,  and  another  for  it  to  be  intro- 
duced by  a  physician  into  a  human  body  as  a  remedy  against  a  dis- 
ease already  there.  In  the  latter  case  the  remedy  was  often  itself 
injurious,  but  to  a  less  extent  than  the  disease  upon  which  it  acted, 
and  it  was  always  the  care  of  the  scientific  physician  to  weigh  these 
conditions. 
Director  Kochler  said  that  during  a  visit  to  the  Strassburg  exhibi- 
tion his  attention  had  been  attracted  to  the  remarkably  beautiful 
green  color  of  some  preserved  beans,  and  upon  inquiring  as  to  how 
this  color  had  been  imparted  he  was  told  that  it  was  a  trade  secret. 
Subsequently  he  had  learned  that  during  the  boiling  of  these  vege- 
tables in  a  copper  vessel  an  electric  current  was  passed  through  the 
whole,  the  copper  of  the  vessel  acting  as  an  anode.  It  was  evident 
that  in  this  way  a  large  quantity  of  copper  would  be  carried  into 
solution. 
At  the  close  of  the  discussion,  a  resolution  was  passed  to  the 
effect  that  the  meeting  was  not  then  in  a  position  to  come  to  a 
definite  conclusion,  but  that  it  would  await  the  results  of  further 
experiments  with  a  view  of  forming  a  judgment  at  the  next  annual 
meeting. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Tran.,  Aug.  8,  p.  107. 
Menthol  wash  for  pruritus  is  made  by  Dr.  J.  J.  Berry  {Med.  Mirror)  by 
dissolving  menthol  3  i  in  alcohol  3  i,  and  adding  water  2  oz.  and  diluted  acetic 
acid  5  oz.    Apply  with  a  sponge. 
