Am,oct!^marm'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  533 
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lary  rays,  and  Professor  Rusby  is  preparing  illustrations  of  these  structural 
characteristics  to  accompany  the  descriptions  in  his  paper. 
An  indigenous  substitute  for  Cork  was  described  in  a  paper  by  A.  O.  Ingalls, 
of  Murray,  Idaho.  It  is  the  suberous  layer  of  the  bark  of  the  Douglas  spruce, 
Pseudotsuga  Douglasii,  a  large  tree,  growing  from  Colorado  to  Mexico  and 
northward,  and  attaining  its  greatest  proportions  in  Oregon.  The  corky  layer 
is  of  good  quality,  but  is  apt  to  become  fissured,  which  tendency  seems  to  be 
lessened  by  protecting  the  bark  against  climatic  influences.  The  layers  are 
formed  earlier  and  on  younger  trees  than  is  the  case  with  the  cork  oak,  and 
since  the  quality  appears  to  be  promising,  this  probable  source  of  cork  for 
industrial  use  deserves  closer  attention  than  it  has  thus  far  received.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  specimens  sent  by  Mr.  Ingalls  did  not  reach  the  meeting. 
The  inorganic  ingredients  of  commercial  Asafetida  have  been  investigated 
by  W.  A.  Puckner,  of  Chicago.  Besides  the  insoluble  sand,  etc.,  the  ash  con- 
tained alumina,  iron,  and  sulphate  and  carbonate  of  calcium  and  magnesium  ; 
its  amount  from  different  specimens  varied  from  19  to  56  per  cent.  Curiously 
enough,  a  specimen  of  powder,  labelled  purified,  yielded  over  55  per  cent,  of 
ash.  We  have  always  found  the  tears  to  be  free  from  this  inorganic  admixture, 
which  is  present  in  that  portion  of  commercial  asafetida  agglutinating  the 
tears. 
Iodoform. — On  this  subject  two  papers  were  presented,  one  by  B.  R.  Boyce, 
recommending  its  preparation  by  the  process  of  Sulliot  and  Raynaud  (see 
Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1889,  p.  175)  ;  it  yields  98  per  cent,  of  the  iodine. 
The  second  paper,  by  C.  H.  Wise,  recommends  the  following  test  of  identity  : 
On  heating  an  alkaline  solution  of  resorcin  with  a  little  iodoform,  a  red  color 
is  produced.  For  recognizing  the  possible  adulteration  with  picric  acid,  the 
reaction  with  potassium  cyanide  is  recommended,  whereby  a  deep  red  color  is 
produced;  the  acid  should  be  dissolved  in  alkali.  (See  Amer.  Jour.  Phar., 
1884,  p.  212.) 
Terebene,  as  met  with  in  commerce,  was  examined  by  F.  A.  Thompson,  of 
Detroit.  Four  specimens  were  of  American  and  one  of  German  make  ;  all 
affected  polarized  light  with  a  varying  right  rotation,  and  had  boiling  points 
differing  from  that  of  pure  terebene.  The  results  agree  with  those  reported  by 
Messrs.  Jayne  and  Chase,  in  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1887,  p.  65. 
Albuminate  of  Iron  and  its  preparations,  by  Dr.  A.  Tsheppe,  of  New  York, 
is  the  title  of  an  essay  in  which  also  the  ferric  compounds  of  sugar,  dextrin 
and  allied  substances  are  considered.  These  compounds  are  generally  formed 
by  mixing  a  solution  of  the  body  with  that  of  a  ferric  salt,  when  on  neutralizing 
the  mixture,  a  precipitate  of  the  new  compound  will  be  produced  ;  the  further 
addition  of  alkali  causes  the  solution  of  the  precipitate,  the  alkali  entering  into 
combination.  The  normal  ferric  salts  may  be  replaced  by  basic  salts  for  form- 
ing analogous  compounds,  richer  in  iron,  with  crystalloids  like  sugar  or  gly- 
cerin. But  colloids  like  albumin  or  dextrin  or  gum  arabic  prevent  the  forma- 
tion of  basic  iron  compounds.  Since  alkaline  solutions  may  contain  a  large 
excess  of  albumin,  and  acid  solutions  a  large  excess  of  iron,  the  precipi- 
tates obtained  from  such  solutions  may  vary  largely  in  their  composition, 
in  the  former  case  through  the  simultaneous  precipitation  of  a  derivative 
of  albumin.    Solution  of  ferric  chloride,  U.  S.  P.,  was  found  to  combine 
