GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
507 
sugar  and  sulphuric  acid  ;  this  reagent  has  proved  very  uncer- 
tain. The  author  has  obtained  much  more  satisfactory  results 
with  pure  nitric  acid,  and  more  certainly  than  with  nitroso.ni- 
tric  acid  which  is  indicated ;  the  application  is  very  simple. 
A  fragment  of  Berzelius  paper  is  dipped  for  a  few  moments  in 
the  liquid  to  be  examined,  and  then  dried  in  the  air.  It  is 
then  touched  with  a  rod  dipped  in  pure  nitric  acid,  when  the 
presence  of  bile  is  indicated  by  the  production  of  a  violet  color, 
which  passes  to  red  and  afterwards  to  yellow. — Journ.  de  Ohim. 
Med. 
Saccharine  Secretion  of  the  Flowers  of  the  Crown  Imperial  
The  nectaries  of  this  plant  secrete  colorless  transparent  drops 
of  a  liquid,  sweet  to  the  taste,  and  free  from  odor,  bitterness  or 
acrimony.  The  liquid  is  composed  of  water,  sugar  of  grapes, 
uncrystallizable  sugar,  and  a  little  mucilage,  without  any  of 
the  astringency  or  acrimony  of  the  plant  itself. — Journ  de  Ohim. 
MSd. 
Purification  of  sulphate  of  copper  from  Iron. — Agitate  a  so- 
lution of  the  impure  salt  with  recently  precipitated  subcarbon- 
ate  of  copper.  On  allowing  the  liquid  to  rest,  all  the  iron  will 
be  separated  as  a  carbonate  and  the  filtered  solution  contains  no 
trace  of  iron  Journ.  de  Chim.  Med. 
On  Spoiled  Wine. — M.  Nickles,  in  a  paper  published  in 
Journal  de  Pharmacie,  August,  1862,  asserts  that  spoiled  or 
altered  wine  contains  propionic  acid,  and  a  larger  proportion  of 
potassa  than  good  wine,  and  that  this  is  due  to  the  fermenta- 
tion of  a  portion  of  the  tartaric  acid  of  the  tartar,  during  which 
a  certain  portion  of  the  tartar  of  the  wine  cask  disappears, 
producing  propionic  acid. 
Gallic  acidin  red  Wine. — M.  Simmler,  Jour,  de  Pharm.,  Aout. 
1862,  having  suspected  the  presence  of  gallic  acid  in  this  wine, 
tried  the  red  wine  of  the  Grisons,  by  removing  its  tannin  with 
isinglass,  and  then  applying  sesquichloride  of  iron,  and  ob- 
tained a  greenish-brown  coloration,  becoming  violet-black  by 
by  exposure  to  the  air. — Journ.  de  Pharm. 
On  a  mode  of  distinguishing  Tartaric  and  Citric  Acids. — Di- 
gest the  suspected  acid  with  hydrated  sesquioxide  of  iron  in  a 
