166  Gleanings  from  Foreign  Journals.  {AmAprii?Srm* 
curie  chloride  is  decomposed  by  soap  it  is  very  difficult  to  make  a 
soap  which  would  answer  the  purpose.  According  to  Geissler  a 
stable  soap  can  be  made  by  mixing  corrosive  sublimate  with  soap 
containing  an  excess  of  fatty  acid  (not  fat).  If  the  soap  contains  an 
excess  of  alkali  dark  spots  appear  and  gradually  get  larger  until  the 
soap  turns  black  and  lastly  silver-gray.  This  does  not  occur  in  soap 
made  as  Geissler  suggests,  hence,  color  can  be  considered  a  criterion 
of  efficacy.  Prof.  Johne  experimented  with  a  1  per  cent,  corrosive 
sublimate  soap  and  found  it  to  be  a  powerful  disinfectant. 
Poisoning  by  Benzin. — An  adult  took  12-13  gms.  of  benzin (benzol?) 
in  mistake  for  brandy.  Ten  or  fifteen  minutes  after  taking  it  the 
patient  became  insensible  and  died  1 7  J  hours  afterward  from  asphyxia. 
— Pharm.  Rundschau,  xii,  p.  110. 
To  generate  a  steady  stream  of  Laughing  Gas. — Kaemmerer  proceeds 
as  follows :  In  a  Woulff  bottle  are  placed  some  strips  of  copper,  and 
the  bottle  is  filled  about  one-third  full  with  a  cold  saturated  solution 
of  nitrate  of  sodium,  to  which  concentrated  sulphuric  acid  is  very 
gradually  added.  The  flow  of  gas  is  regulated  by  the  quantity  of 
sulphuric  acid  added,  care  being  taken  not  to  have-  the  mixture  too 
warm. — Pharm.  Rundschau,  xii,  p.  110. 
Novel  use  for  Paraffin. — Paraffin  dissolves  in  ether  and  ethereal 
oils,  but  not  in  alcohol.  Coltelloni  takes  advantage  of  this  in  distil- 
ling alcohol.  The  vapors  are  passed  through  molten  paraffin  before 
condensing,  which  takes  up  the  fusel  oil,  and  pure  alcohol  condenses. 
— Pharm.  Rundschau,  xii,  p.  131. 
Diluent  for  Exsiccated  Narcotic  Extracts. — Soluble  starch,  made  by 
boiling  1000  parts  of  potato  starch  with  5000  parts  of  water  and  20 
parts  of  oxalic  acid  until  the  mixture  becomes  clear,  then  neutralizing 
with  chalk,  is  recommended  as  a  diluent  for  narcotic  extracts.  Pow- 
dered soluble  starch  resembles  gum  arabic,  is  soluble  in  water  and 
contains  but  a  trace  of  glucose. — Pharm.  Rundschau,  xii,  p.  89. 
According  to  Hoffmann,  borax  precipitates  morphine  in  long  acicu- 
lar  crystals.  The  borax  solution  is  added  until  the  morphine  solution 
contains  from  3  to  4  per  cent,  of  borax — after  20-25  minutes  the 
crystals  of  morphine  can  be  separated,  washed  and  weighed — Phar. 
Rundschau,  xii,  p.  69. 
Indelible  inks. — Richmond  states  that  indelible  inks  which  are  not 
affected  by  acids,  can  be  made  as  follows :  Dark-blue=3  parts  ferro- 
