446  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Amsip"f;i8»?rm' 
in  the  glucose  used  for  adulteration.  To  insure  reliable  results,  the 
liquid  is  tested  from  hour  to  hour  until  the  rotation  remains  con- 
stant.— Pharm.  Ztg.,  1890,  441. 
Mucilage  of  Gum  Arabic. — To  make  a  clear,  almost  odorless  and 
permanent  mucilage  Francke  neutralizes  the  free  acid  present  in  the 
gum  with  lime  water.  Instead  of  water  he  uses  a  mixture  20  per  cent, 
lime  water  and  80  per  cent,  distilled  water. — Pharm.  Ztg.y  1890,  457. 
Atropamine  is  a  new  alkaloid  found  by  Hesse  in  belladonna  root, 
where  it  is  occasionally  present  in  considerable  quantity.  It  is 
amorphous,  melts  at  6o°  C,  is  easily  soluble  in  alcohol,  ether  and 
chloroform,  has  the  formula  C17H21N02  (differing  from  atropine, 
hyoscyamineand  hyoscine  by  containing  one  H20  less  ;  but,  identical 
with  pure  belladonnine).  It  differs  from  the  other  belladonna  alka- 
loids by  forming  beautifully  crystallized  haloid  salts;  it  is  optically 
inactive;  the  hydrochlorate  in  2  per  cent,  solution  is  not  mydriatic. 
Atropamine  is  only  decomposed  by  prolonged  boiling  with  alcoholic 
baryta  solution,  yielding  tropine  and  an  unknown  acid,  which  may 
under  some  conditions  re-arrange  its  atoms  to  form  cinnamic  or 
isocinnamic  acid.  Mineral  acids  easily  bring  about  the  decomposi- 
tion but  first  convert  the  atropamine  into  belladonnine ;  this  easy 
decomposition  may  explain  why  the  alkaloid  was  not  sooner  dis- 
covered as  it  is  easily  isolated.  It  is  precipitated  from  its  salts  by 
ammonia,  potash  and  soda  as  oily  drops. — Pharm.  Ztg.,  1890,  471. 
Precipitated  red  oxide  of  mercury. — The  publications  of  Vielhaber 
and  Jehn  that  the  red  oxide  of  mercury  made  from  the  nitrate  was 
often,  if  not  always,  contaminated  with  metallic  mercury  induced 
Dr.  Bosetti  to  attempt  its  preparation  by  precipitation.  By  using  a 
boiling  solution  of  mercuric  chloride  (1  14),  adding  baryta  solution 
until  the  brown  precipitate  turns  red,  and  washing,  red  oxide  was 
obtained.  The  objection  to  the  product  is  that  while  free  from 
chlorine,  it  always  contains  baryta.  A  red  oxide  of  deep  orange 
color  can  be  obtained  by  using  NaOH  in  place  of  Ba(OH)2,  avoiding 
an  excess  of  NaOH.  Like  the  officinal  red  oxide  it  does  not  change 
its  color  if  warmed  on  a  water-bath  with  oxalic  acid  solution. — 
Pharm.  Ztg.,  1890,  471. 
Nux  Vomica  Assays. — 10  gm.  of  the  powdered  seeds  are 
exhausted  in  an  extraction  apparatus  with  a  mixture  of  75  parts 
chloroform  and  25  parts  spirit  of  ammonia,  the  chloroform 
recovered   by  distillation,  the    residue,  after   dissipation  of  the 
