GLEANINGS  FROM  FRENCH  JOURNALS.  333 
M.  Kruger  thinks  that  the  acid  enters  the  paper  from  the 
water  used  in  its  manufacture  as  sulphate  of  lime,  because  it  is 
not  probable  that  it  would  be  admixed  mechanically  and  in- 
tentionally, as  is  done  under  the  name  of  annalin  in  some  kinds 
of  paper.  This  sulphate  of  lime  is  not  derived  from  the  chloride 
of  lime  and  sulphate  of  soda  employed  in  bleaching,  because  no 
soda  salt  is  found  in  these  papers.  Whatever  be  its  source,  it  is 
important  to  guard  against  its  presence. — Journ.  de  Pharm., 
Avril,  1868. 
Bleaching  of  palm  oil. — M.  Englehart  bleaches  palm  oil  thus  : 
Take  1000  lbs.  of  palm  oil,  heat  it  to  141°  F.  in  a  boiler,  and 
let  it  stand  over  night,  and  next  day  decant  it  into  a  clean  vessel 
and  cool  to  98°  to  101°  F.  In  another  vessel  boil  45  pounds  of 
water,  dissolve  in  it  15  pounds  of  bichromate  of  potassa,  and 
when  partly  cooled  add  60  pounds  of  hydrochloric  acid.  This 
solution  is  then  mixed  with  the  palm  oil,  and  agitated  rapidly. 
In  five  minutes  the  color  of  the  mixture  becomes  green,  owing  to 
the  reduction  of  the  chromic  acid  at  the  expense  of  the  coloring 
matter  of  the  oil.  On  continuing  the  stirring  the  oxide  of  chrome 
separates,  and  it  is  sufficient  to  wash  the  oil  with  water  to  get  it 
perfectly  white. — Jour,  de  Pharm.,  Avril,  1868. 
Trimethylamine  in  wine. — M.  E.  Ludwig  states  that  the  or- 
ganic basic  substance  noticed  in  wine  by  M.  Brucke  he  has 
proven  to  be  trimethylamine,  which  he  thinks  is  due  to  the  de- 
composition of  the  ferment, — a  source  of  this  base  pointed  out 
by  M.  Muller.  The  author  found  this  base  in  other  qualities  of 
wine,  and  inclines  to  consider  it  as  a  principle  entering  ferment- 
ed liquors.  M.  Nickles  says  it  has  been  suggested  that  it  may 
exist  in  the  grape,  and  arise  from  the  animal  manures  used  in 
its  culture. — Jour.  Prakt.  Chemie,  and  Jour,  de  Pharm. 
Solubility  of  plaster  of  Paris  in  solution  of  sugar  has  been 
shown  by  M.  Sostmann,  and  that  hot  concentrated  syrups  dis- 
solve more  than  weak  ones,  but  prolonged  boiling  causes  a  partial 
separation  of  the  sulphate  of  lime  in  the  scum. 
On  glucose  in  gentian  root,  by  M.  Louis  Magnes. — The  author 
has  examined  gentian  root  carefully  by  the  cupropotassic  liquid 
process  of  Barreswill,  and  finds  that  commercial  gentian  contains, 
