206       Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  {AmAp0di?i89b8arm' 
FOR  PERTUSSIS. 
R.    Tr.  belladonna,  gss 
Phenacetin,  gr.  lxxv 
Spiritus  frumenti,  %iv 
Extract,  castanese  fid.,  ^ii 
tt^. — Sig. :  To  a  child  over  one  year  of  age  administer  ten  drops  every  two  to 
six  hours  ;  for  a  child  of  ten  years  the  dose  is  one  teaspoonful. — New  York 
Medical  News,  February  19,  1898. 
RECENT  LITERATURE  RELATING  TO  PHARMACY. 
THE  VOLATILE    CONSTITUENTS   OF   THE  WOOD   OF  GOUPIA  TOMENTOSA. 
W.  R.  Dunstan  and  T.  A.  Henry  [Proceedings  of  the  Chemical 
Society,  London,  March,  1898),  state  that  Goupia  tomentosa  is  a 
large  tree  growing  in  British  Guiana,  where  it  is  known  as 
"  kabucalli."  The  wood  is  hard,  and  is  used  in  the  colony  for  boat- 
building. When  freshly  cut  it  emits  a  smell  resembling  that  of 
valerian.  By  distilling  the  wood  with  water,  a  mixture  of  acids  of 
the  acetic  series  was  obtained,  from  which  the  authors  have  isolated 
and  identified  formic  acid,  isovaleric  acid,  normal  capric  acid  and 
lauric  acid.    A  small  quantity  of  succinic  acid  was  also  obtained. 
SOLUBLE  STARCH. 
According  to  Wiktor  Syniewski  (Ber.,  1897,  30,  241 5-241 8)  solu- 
ble starch  may  be  obtained  by  the  action  of  a  9  per  cent,  solution 
of  sodium  peroxide  on  potato  starch  suspended  in  water,  and  is 
purified  by  repeated  precipitation  by  alcohol,  when  it  forms  a  snow- 
white  amorphous  substance  which  is  almost  free  from  ash ;  this  has 
the  composition  3C6H10O5  -f-  H20,  is  soluble  to  the  extent  of  12-5 
per  cent,  in  cold  water,  and  in  all  proportions  in  hot  water ;  the 
aqueous  solution  is  not  altered  by  warming  on  the  water-bath,  and 
is  colored  a  pure  blue  by  iodine.  The  compound  is  dextrorotatory, 
but  the  specific  rotation  increases  with  the  concentration  of  the  solu- 
tion. The  yield  is  about  90  per  cent,  of  the  original  material,  the 
loss  being  purely  mechanical.— Journal  of  the  Chemical  Society, 
London,  February,  1898. 
SOLUBLE  STARCH  AND  DIASTASE. 
In  an  investigation  on  the  chemical  constitution  of  diastase  and 
the  determination  of  its  activity  on  soluble  starch,  A.  Wroblewski 
has  obtained  results  showing  that  in  all  preparations  of  diastase  the 
