Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1890. 
The  Kola  Nut  of  Africa. 
595 
Glycerin  mounts. — The  great  trouble  with  these  mounts  is  that 
none  of  the  usual  cements  (for  ringing)  will  stick,  unless  all  traces 
of  the  glycerin  have  been  thoroughly  removed.  India-rubber 
cements  or  marine  glue  are  not  so  sensitive ;  they  stick  in  spite  of  a 
little  glycerin  which  may  happen  to  be  present. 
Silicate  of  sodium — a  retraction. — A  couple  of  months  ago  the 
writer  strongly  recommended  water-glass  as  a  medium.  He  did  so, 
based  on  one  year's  experience.  On  a  late  inspection  of  his  slides 
he  found  that  nearly  all  silicate  mounts  had  become  more  or  less 
opaque,  granular-like.  It  is  a  pity — through  its  quickly  setting  and 
strong  sticking  property,  the  silicate  promised  to  be  an  excellent 
medium. 
Urinary  deposits. — These  can  be  rendered  more  conspicuous  by 
adding  a  few  drops  of  eosine  solution  (the  "carmine  ink"  of  to-day 
to  the  urine,  and  allowing  the  casts,  etc.,  to  settle.    (Dr.  Jennings.) 
Diabetic  and  albuminous  urine. — As  it  is  not  always  feasible  to 
obtain  the  necessary  pathological  urine  for  (exercise)  practice  in 
testing,  a  very  fair  makeshift  will  be  found  in  the  following  :  Dis- 
solve five  drops  of  honey  (or  glucose)  in  a  couple  of  ounces  of  water, 
and  use  this  solution  for  practice,  diluting  it  more  and  more. 
Shake  the  white  of  one  egg  with  one  pint  of  water  and  add  a  couple 
of  crystals  of  thymol  for  preservation.    Use  similarly  for  practice. 
A  volumetric  sugar  table  for  Fehling's  or  Pavy's  solutions,  by 
E.  W.  Sharp  (class  of  '84),  will  be  found  in  the  Microscopical  Bul- 
letin, 1890,  p.  16. 
Preservation  of  urine. — It  has  been  variously  recommended  to. 
add  a  few  drops  of  chloroform,  which  does  not  in  any  way  interfere 
with  the  testing. 
THE  KOLA  NUT  OF  AFRICA. 
By  P.  L.  Simmonds,  F.L.S. 
This  seed  or  fruit,  known  under  a  variety  of  names  in  different 
parts  of  Africa,  as  kola,  gourou,  ombene,  nangone,  kokkorokon  and 
matrassa,  has  only  within  a  few  years  come  into  important  notice  as 
a  food  stimulant.  Twenty  or  thirty  years  ago,  it  was  incidentally 
described  by  Dr.  Daniel  and  Prof.  At t field,  in  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal,  but  its  extensive  employment  in  Africa  was  comparatively 
little  known.  Although  its  use  as  a  stimulant,  in  the  place  of  coffee, 
tea,  mate  and  coca  by  other  people,  had  been  very  general,  almost 
