AAprTi,  i873RM'}  Gleanings  from  the  European  Journals.  165 
tions  of  oxalic  acid,  or  it  may  be  diluted,  heated  to  boiling,  neutral- 
ized with  ammonia  and  the  secondary  products,  oxamide  and  oxame- 
than,  decomposed  by  continued  boiling  and  acidulating  with  oxalic 
acid.  On( rendering  the  filtrate  slightly  alkaline  with  ammonia,  and 
recrystallizing  the  product  repeatedly,  pure  oxalate  of  ammonium  is 
obtained. — N.  Jahrb.  of  Pharm.,  1873,  Jan.,  from  ZeiUchr.  f.  anah 
'Ghent.,  XI. 
Some  constituents  of  Veratrum  album. — The  bitter  taste  of  the  in- 
fusion of  this  rhizome,  after  it  has  been  entirely  deprived  of  the 
alkaloids,  is  due  to  a  principle  which  was  obtained  by  Hermann 
Weppen,  in  the  form  of  a  light  yellow  amorphous  mass,  which  ap- 
pears to  be  a  glucoside,  and  is  soluble  in  alcohol,  more  readily  in 
water,  insoluble  in  ether,  chloroform,  benzole  and  petroleum  benzin. 
Exposed  to  the  air  it  is  deliquescent  and  soon  becomes  discolored  and 
dark  brown  ;  its  solution  is  precipitated  by  subacetate  of  lead. 
A  new  acid,  jervic  acid,  C14H10O12-j-2H2O,  was  obtained  by  the 
author  as  a  light,  white,  crystalline  powder,  which  is  not  fusible,  not 
sublimable,  slightly  soluble  in  cold  water  and  strong  alcohol,  very 
sparingly  in  absolute  ether,  insoluble  in  benzole,  bisulphide  of  carbon, 
chloroform,  petroleum  benzin,  amylic  alcohol  and  dilute  acids.  A 
solution  of  the  acid  is  turned  yellow  by  alkalies,  the  color  deepening 
on  heating  ;  alkaline  earths  in  excess  produce  white  precipitates, 
turning  lemon-yellow  on  boiling.  No  precipitates  are  produced  with 
the  chlorides  of  barium  and  calcium,  the  sulphates  of  iron,  zinc  and 
copper,  mercuric  chloride  and  nitrate.  Precipitates,  which  are  solu- 
ble in  nitric  acid,  are  obtained  with  the  acetates  of  lead,  mercurous 
nitrate  and  nitrate  of  silver  ;  the  latter  is  not  affected  by  boiling  or 
exposure  to  light.  The  acid  differs,  therefore,  from  oxalic,  succinic, 
malic,  tartaric,  citric,  gallic  and  Merck's  veratric  acids.  Jervic  acid 
was  probably  mistaken  by  Pelletier  and  Caventou  for  gallic  acid ;  the 
two  acids  bear  some  analogy  in  composition,  but  the  former  is  tetra- 
basic  while  the  latter  is  monobasic. — Ibid.,  Feb.,  p.  98-102. 
Poisoning  by  citrate  of  iron  and  quinia. — An  interesting  case,  with, 
an  experiment  upon  himself,  is  related  by  Dr.  Levie,  of  Rotterdam. 
The  symptoms  were  pronounced  by  Dr.  Van  Hasselt,  the  well  known 
toxicologist,  to  be  those  of  atropia.  Similar  cases  have  repeatedly 
occurred  in  Rotterdam  with  the  same  preparation,  but  the  source  of 
the  atropia  in  it  has  never  been  ascertained. — Ibid.,  from  Nederl. 
Tydschr.  voor  Geneesk.j  1872/ 
