AmNov.?]89iarm*}  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  535 
and  particularly  before  a  thunderstorm,  frequently  takes  place.  It 
manifests  itself  by  the  gradual  darkening  of  the  mixture,  which 
soon  becomes  of  a  thickish  consistence,  with  final,  bulky  precipita- 
tion. It  becomes  necessary  to  recommend  to  the  consumer  to  keep 
the  medicine  in  as  cool  a  place  as  possible. 
A  change  of  this  nature  often  gives  rise  to  suspicion,  and  by  pre- 
vious information  possible  distrust  may  be  avoided.  In  the  selec- 
tion of  the  material  employed  some  care  is  also  necessary. 
The  acetic  acid  must  be  strictly  U.  S.  P.,  free  from  empyreumatic 
impurities  If  the  latter  be  present,  on  neutralization  with  the  car- 
bonate of  ammonia,  it  will  manifest  itself  both  in  odor  and  taste. 
Also,  on  the  addition  of  tincture  of  iron,  it  will  produce  a  consider- 
ably darker  mixture.  The  same  precaution  may  be  observed  in  the 
ammonia  salt,  which  is  often  of  inferior  quality. 
In  offering  the  substitute  for  the  officinal  Basham's  Mixture,  no 
new  features  are  presented  either  in  composition  or  method  of  prep- 
aration, merely  slight  alterations  in  an  old  and  tried  formula.  But 
as  improvement  upon  the  pharmacopceial  formula  is  a  necessity,  it 
may  be  worthy  of  consideration.  It  certainly  has  one  advantage 
which  the  other  does  not  possess,  that  of  being  stable. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Frank  X.  Moerk,  Ph.G. 
Kamala. — In  a  recent  report  issued  by  Caesar  and  Loretz,  the 
results  of  sifting  commercial  kamala,  with  the  view  of  separating  as 
much  as  possible  the  portions  containing  much  mineral  matter,  are 
given ;  of  the  lots  purified  during  the  past  two  years  the  best  one 
gave  percentage  results  as  follows  :  55  per  cent,  of  worthless  impuri- 
ties, as  dirt,  fruit  and  bark  particles ; 
12,       10,       3,       2  and  18  per  cent,  purified  kamala 
containing    20,       16,      10,      7*5         6        "  ash. 
The  last  lot  that  was  purified  yielded  58  per  cent,  of  worthless 
impurities;  and 
5,       10,       4,       8,       9  and  4  per  cent,  purified  kamala 
yielding    40,     35,      24,      21,      14  "  12-5     "  ash 
These  results  are  confirmed  by  examinations  of  various  commercial 
samples  of  kamala  made  during  the  last  year. — Apothcker  Ztg.y 
1891,  495. 
