536 
Obituary. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I     October.  1898. 
member  of  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain.  In  1869  he  became 
an  honorary  member  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy.  In  187 1  he  was 
elected  a  member  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association;  as  also  an  officier 
de  1'  Instruction,  and,  in  1873,  a  corresponding  member  of  the  Paris  Academie 
Medicale.  "  In  1880  he  was  appointed  a  companion  of  the  order  of  the  Indian 
Empire  and  when  he  was  celebrating  his  jubilee,  ten  years  ago,  he  was  made  a 
Knight  of  the  Netherlands  Lion."  A  year  ago  Dr.  DeVrij  was  the  recipient  of 
the  Hanbury  gold  medal.  Only  so  recently  as  June  25th,  Dr.  DeVrij  celebrated 
his  diamond  jubilee  as  a  scientific  man.  On  the  day  of  his  diamond  jubilee  the 
University  of  Utrecht  conferred  on  him  the  degree  of  M.D.,  honoris  causa,  in 
recognition  of  the  great  services  his  cinchona  researches  had  been  to  mankind. 
His  body  was  shipped  to  Gotha  for  cremation,  as  there  is  no  crematory  exist- 
ing in  the  Netherlands.  Dr.  DeVrij  took  an  active  part  in  all  pharmaceutical 
matters  up  to  the  day  of  his  death.  He  was  an  ideal  investigator — scientific, 
and  yet  practical.  His  name  will  ever  be  associated  with  the  successful  devel- 
opment of  the  cinchona  and  its  chemistry.  He  not  only  developed  its  success- 
ful planting  and  studied  its  chemistry,  but  also  its  successful  administration 
In  Dr.  DeVrij 's  quinadrops  (being,  according  to  J.  B.  Nagelvoort,  an  acid 
aqueous  fluid  extract  of  cinchona,  containing  about  5  per  cent,  total  alkaloids, 
and  easily  miscible  with  water  in  all  proportions)  we  have  one  of  the  most 
successful  and  popular  of  pharmaceutical  preparations.  Professor  Fliickiger 
wrote  a  few  years  ago  fdr  Reber's  Gallerie,  an  interesting  biography  of  this  most 
eminent  quinologist. 
Gonorol  is  the  name  given  to  the  alcoholic  constituents  of  Bast  Indian 
sandalwood  oil.  It  has  been  ascertained  {Chemist  and  Druggist,  1898,  p.  250) 
that  these  bodies  are  the  active  constituents  of  the  oil  and  that  the  other  sub- 
stances present  tend  to  cause  irritation  when  the  oil  is  administered  for  urethral 
troubles.  The  dose  and  methods  of  administration  are  the  same  as  for  sandal- 
wood oil. 
Peeling  Cinnamon. — The  work  of  peeling  the  bark  from  cinnamon  shoots  is 
performed  entirely  by  members  of  the  challa  caste  {Ibid.,  p.  180),  who  are 
very  expert  at  the  business,  and  transmit  it  as  a  sacred  heritage  from  father  to 
son. 
Local  Application  of  Methyl  Salicylate. — Linnoissier  and  Lannois  {Bull,  de 
VAcad.  de  Med.,  March  22,  1898)  speak  highly  of  the  local  application  of 
methyl  salicylate  to  the  joints  in  rheumatic  affections.  They  contend  that  it 
is  converted  in  the  blood  into  sodium  salicylate,  and  that  there  is  produced  a 
local  analgesic  effect  without  any  gastric  irritation.  The  part  is  painted  with 
the  methyl  salicylate  and  covered  with  several  layers  of  india  rubber.  The 
usual  dose  is  one,  but  sometimes  two  or  three  drachms,  in  acute  cases  are 
employed. — Univ.  Med.  Mag.,  1898,  p.  744. 
"  Waras,''  the  Indian  Dye  Stuff  has  been  investigated  by  A.  G.  Perkin 
(Chem.  News,  1898,  p.  20)  who  finds  in  it  a  number  of  principles,  which  are 
closely  related  to,  though  not  identical  with,  those  present  in  Kamala.  Waras  is 
a  much  stronger  dye  stuff  than  Kamala. 
