Am.  Jour.  PUarui.  ) 
September,  1911.  J 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
453 
but  it  is  claimed  that  the  shght  tlocculent  precipitate  does  not  affect 
its  efficiency.  It  is  claimed  that  hormonal  has  the  property  of 
exciting  the  peristalsis  of  the  intestine  and  provoking  the  evacuation 
of  the  faeces.  Its  use  is  still  in  the  experimental  stage. — /.  Am.  M. 
Assoc.,  191 1,  V.  57,  p.  291. 
Mare^tin. — W.  Heubner  protests  against  some  of  the  advertising 
literature  recently  sent  out  by  the  firm  making  maretin.  He  asserts 
that  this  substance  has  a  powerful  action  on  the  blood,  and  is  far 
from  being  the  harmless  medicament  that  it  is  claimed  to  be  by 
the  manufacturer. — Therap.  Monatsh.,  191 1,  v.  25,  pp.  364-368. 
A  correction  by  Dresser  is  published  in  the  same  joumial 
(August,  pp.  472-475),  and  in  a  reply  by  Heubner  (pp.  476-479) 
the  latter  reiterates  his  belief  that  maretin  is  not  a  safe  remedy. 
Liquid  nitrous  oxide,  or  dinitrogen  monoxide,  N2O,  in  the 
liquid  state,  is  described  by  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry 
as  a  colorless  mobile  liquid,  boiling  at  89.8°  C,  solidifying  at 
— 102°  C,  and  having  a  specific  gravity  of  0.937  0°  C.  Liquid 
nitrous  oxide  returns  to  the  gaseous  state  when  the  pressure  is 
reduced  and  the  temperature  raised.  A  number  of  chemical  tests 
to  which  the  substance  should  respond  are  given  and  its  actions 
and  uses  are  discussed. — J.  Am.  M.  Assoc.,  191 1,  v.  57,  p.  563. 
Tincture  of  Opium. — Farr  and  Wright,  in  a  paper  on  The 
Supposed  Loss  of  Morphine  in  the  Preparation  of  Tincture  of 
Opium,  proved  by  experiments  that  the  loss  is  real,  and  varies 
from  0.8  to  9  per  cent,  of  morphine,  with  an  average  of  4.78.  The 
authors  suggest  that  the  loss  is  due  to  occlusion  of  the  alkaloid  in 
the  opium,  but  they  are  making  further  experiments. — Chem.  and 
Drug.,  July  29,  191 1,  p.  151. 
Oxygen. — Baskerville  and  Stevenson  present  a  critical  study  of 
the  bibliography,  methods  of  preparation,  and  methods  of  analysis 
of  oxygen,  and  outline  standards  of  purity  recommended  for  oxygen 
to  be  used  in  medicine.  They  conclude  that  the  gas  should  be 
neutral  toward  moist,  dehcate  litmus  paper;  and  when  passed 
through  an  aqueous  solution  of  silver  nitrate  it  should  produce  no 
turbidity. — /.  Ind.  and  Eng.  Chem.,  191 1,  v.  3,  pp.  471-476. 
Saccharin. — An  unsigned  note,  commenting  on  the  proposed  re- 
stricting of  the  use  of  saccharin  in  food,  as  outline  in  food  inspection 
decision  135,  asserts  that  0.3  gramme  of  saccharin  possesses  the 
sweetening  power  of  165  grammes  of  cane  sugar,  and  points  out 
that  it  is  hardly  conceivable  that  any  one  person  would  daily  digest 
