196 
Current  Literature. 
1 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1915. 
CURRENT  LITERATURE. 
Alkaloidal  Content  of  Stramonium  Leaves. 
In  Bulletin  692  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  H.  A.  Langenhan 
records  the  results  of  some  investigations  undertaken  to  determine 
the  alkaloidal  content  of  several  species  of  stramonium  that  have 
been  examined  chemically,  and  to  ascertain  the  alkaloids  present  in 
the  leaf  of  a  given  species  for  a  succession  of  years.  The  results  of 
the  assay  of  Datura  Stramonium  Gigantea  and  Datura  Stramonium 
Inermis  bring  forth  the  statement  from  the  author  that  no  satis- 
factory generalizations  can  be  made.  The  material  worked  with  was 
cultivated  in  the  Northern  Experiment  Station  at  Madison,  a  co- 
operative experiment  for  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  by  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  and  The  University  of 
Wisconsin.  J.  K.  T. 
E.  R.  Miller  (Bulletin  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  No.  693) 
has  made  an  interesting  study  of  the  chemical  and  physical  properties 
of  this  oil.  As  the  wormwood  industry  is  the  oldest  medicinal  plant 
industry  in  the  State,  the  oil  having  been  produced  for  over  fifty 
years,  it  seemed  that  an  investigation  having  for  its  object  a  more 
systematic  cultivation  and  distillation  of  the  plant  would  be  welcome 
to  those  engaged  in  this  industry.  Work  of  this  kind,  if  consistently 
kept  up,  will  eventually  be  of  material  aid  and  help  to  make  Wisconsin 
oil  the  best  in  the  market.  J.  K.  T. 
E.  R.  Miller  (Bulletin  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin,  No.  693) 
has  made  an  exhaustive  chemical  study  of  the  oils  of  several  species 
of  Eupatorium.  A  tabulation  gives  the  time  of  collection,  the  yield 
of  oil,  the  specific  gravity,  index  of  refraction,  rotation  in  a  100-mm. 
tube,  percentage  of  methoxy  group,  saponification  number,  saponifi- 
cation number  after  acetylating,  the  acid  number,  and  the  percentage 
of  thymohydroquinone  dimethyl  ether  calculated  from  the  percentage 
Wisconsin  Wormwood  Oil. 
Oils  of  Eupatorium. 
of  methoxyl. 
J.  K.  T. 
