Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1911. 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
293 
view  adopted  by  most  pharmacopoeias  and  by  the  Brussels  Con- 
ference that  leaves  of  the  second  years'  growth  are  more  potent  than 
those  of  the  first  year  appears  to  be  founded  on  tradition  only.  The 
view,  or  rather  impression,  that  the  leaves  of  wild  growing  plants 
are  more  potent  than  those  of  the  cultivated  plants  also  does  not 
rest  on  a  scientific  basis.  The  editorial  concludes  that  a  perusal 
of  this  Bulletin  will  place  the  practitioner  in  a  much  better  position 
to  form  a  judgment  of  the  character  of  the  digitaHs  preparation  he 
uses  and  that  the  work  which  it  embodies  should  be  of  value  in 
improving  the  pharmacopoeial  requirements  of  this  important  drug. 
DiGLYCODiSALiCYLic  AciD. — ^It  is  claimed  that  diglycodisalicylic 
acid  0(CH2.COOC6H9.COOH)2,  possesses  the  full  physiological 
activity  of  salicylic  acid,  and  has  certain  advantages  over  acetyl- 
salicylic  acid  for  therapeutic  use.  It  forms  shining,  odorless  leaflets, 
with  a  faint  acid  taste;  it  melts  at  168-170°  C. — Pharm.  J,,  Lond., 
191 1,  V.  86,  April  15,  p.  498. 
OvoGAL. — Ofvogal  is  a  combination  of  bile  acids  with  egg 
albumen.  It  is  a  greenish  yellow  powder,  insoluble  in  water,  dilute 
acids,  ether,  benzol,  fats,  etc.  Alcohol  and  acetone  do  not  dissolve 
it,  but  after  long  action  remove  from  it  small  amounts  of  the  bile 
acids.  Alkalies  dissolve  ovogal,  splitting  it  into  albumen  and  bile 
acids  (Glycocholic  acid  and  taurocholic  acid). — /.  Am.  M.  Ass., 
191 1,  V.  56,  p.  1460. 
Oxygen. — A  report  of  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry 
outlines  a  description  with  tests  for  compressed  oxygen  (/.  Am.  M. 
Ass.,  191 1,  V.  56,  p.  813).  An  editorial  (ibid.,  p.  820)  points  out 
that  this  report  describes  an  article  which  so  far  is  one  of  the  few 
things  that  have  not  been  appropriated  by  the  proprietary  medicine 
houses.  Oxygen  is  often  depended  upon  to  save  life  that  is  at  its 
lowest  ebb,  and  the  purity  of  the  substance  is  a  most  important 
matter,  more  important  than  the  purity  of  many  official  drugs. 
Peristaltin. — ^Peristaltin  is  a  glucoside  of  the  formula 
Cj^H^gOg,  extracted  from  cascara  sagrada.  It  is  a  yellow  powder, 
soluble  in  water  and  in  dilute  alcohol.  It  is  said  to  have  a  marked 
purgative  action. — Chem.  and  Drug.,  191 1,  v.  78,  April  29,  p.  151. 
Phenol. — An  interesting  controversy  has  grown  out  of  the 
Ph.  Germi.  V  requirement  that  phenol  should  react  neutral  with 
litmus  paper.  Ernst  Schmidt  {Arch.  d.  Pharm.,  1911,  v.  249,  pp. 
236-240)  discusses  some  of  the  attacks  that  have  been  made  on 
the  pharmacopoeial  statement,  and  points  out  that  while  ordinary 
