288 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharna. 
June,  1903. 
bright  yellow.  This  reaction  is  said  to  be  characteristic  of  heroin 
and  is  produced  by  the  free  base  as  well  as  the  hydrochloride. 
Theophylin  or  theocin. — Chevelier  (Les  Nouv.  Rem.,  1903,  p.  76) 
says  that  while  the  diuretic  action  of  this  preparation  has  been  suf- 
ficiently demonstrated,  its  toxic  action  should  not  be  lost  sight  of. 
The  toxic  dose  of  theocin  for  one  kilo  of  animal  weight  has  been 
demonstrated  to  be  o-io  gramme  for  a  guinea  pig  intraperitoneal, 
and  0-20  gramme  for  a  dog  intravenous.  Theocin  is  also  said  to 
have  a  marked  effect  on  the  heart. 
Vanillin. —The  formation  of  this  substance  is  discussed  byLecomte 
{Journal  de  Pharm.  et  de  them.,  1903,  p.  343),  who  appears  to  hold 
that  vanillin  is  formed  in  two  distinct  steps  and  by  two  ferments, 
one  of  which  has  hydrolizing  while  the  other  has  oxidizing  prop- 
erties. 
According  to  the  theory  proposed,  the  hydrolizing  ferment  de- 
composes the  nascent  coniferine  into  coniferylic  alcohol  and  glucose; 
the  coniferylic  alcohol  is  then  transformed  into  vanillin  by  the 
action  of  the  oxidizing  ferment. 
Veronal,  a  new  hypnotic,  that  is  said  to  be  diethyl-malonyl-urea 
and  to  equal  sulfonal  as  a  sudorific.  It  occurs  as  colorless  crystals 
melting  at  about  191 0  C,  having  a  slightly  bitter  taste,  and  being 
soluble  in  12  parts  of  boiling  water,  or  in  145  parts  of  cold  water. 
For  simple  cases  of  insomnia  doses  of  from  0-30  to  0-50  are  said  to 
be  sufficient,  preferably  given  dissolved  in  warm  liquids.  (Apoth. 
Zeit.,  1903,  p.  195.) 
Victorium. — Sir  William  Crookes  has  announced  through  the  Royal 
Society  that  he  has  isolated  a  new  element,  to  which  he  has  given 
the  name  victorium.  According  to  the  description  as  given  by 
Crookes,  this  new  element  is  a  light  brown  metal  that  is  readily 
soluble  in  acids,  has  an  atomic  weight  of  117  and  is  intermediate  be- 
tween yttrium  and  erbium.    {Suddeut.  Apoth.  Zeit.,  1903,  p.  234.) 
Oil  of  Peppermint. — C.  T.  Bennett  has  discovered  a  new  adulter- 
ant in  a  lot  of  oil  of  peppermint  that  did  not  appear  to  have  any 
suspicious  properties  outside  of  not  separating  out  menthol  under 
the  ordinary  conditions.  On  careful  examination  of  the  separate 
constituents  obtained  by  fractional  distillation,  Bennett  found  that 
the  oil  contained  as  much  as  15  per  cent,  of  triacetin.  (Chem.  and 
Drug.,  1903,  p.  591.) 
Nerol  and  Nerolidol  are  two  new  alcohols  belonging  to  the  gera- 
