252  Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica.  {AmM™T;£wiTm' 
be  applicable  for  the  oils  of  bergamot  and  orange  peel. — Archiv 
d.Phar.,  1885,  p.  349. 
Poison  of  the  Nettle. — The  irritating  poison  contained  in  the  hairs 
of  different  species  is  generally  regarded  to  be  formic  acid  in  the  free 
state.  Prof.  G.  Haberlandt,  of  Gratz,  in  an  essay  presented  to  the 
Academy  of  Natural  Sciences,  at  Vienna,  February  4,  1886,  has 
shown  that  the  irritation  is  produced  by  a  poison  which  is  dissolved 
in  the  cell  sap,  and  the  behavior  of  which  proves  it  to  be  related  to 
the  formless  ferments,  or  enzymes. 
Poisoning  by  Frangula  Berries. — Dr.  O.  Peterson  (St.  Peter sb.  Med. 
Wochenschr.)  reports  the  case  of  a  lad  who,  after  eating  some  berries 
of  Rhamnus  Frangula,  was  seized  with  vertigo,  headache,  convulsions, 
unconsciousness,  dilatation  of  the  pupil,  rapid,  feeble  pulse,  and  faint 
respiration.  The  treatment  consisted  in  cold  washings,  clysters  and 
the  administration  of  ether  until  consciousness  returned,  when  the 
stomach  was  evacuated  by  emetics.  The  poisonous  effects  seem  to  be 
due  to  hydrocyanic  acid  contained  in  the  seeds. 
Rhamnus  Purshiana. — A  student  of  the  California  College  of 
Pharmacy  has  obtained  from  this  bark  small  orange-red  crystals 
which,  after  purification  from  alcohol,  were  found  by  Prof.  Wenzell 
to  sublime  at  230°  C.  They  dissolve  in  sulphuric  acid  with  a  deep 
red  color  without  showing  a  green  tinge,  and  though  resembling  fran- 
gulin  to  some  extent,  do  not  appear  to  be  identical  with  this  compound; 
neither  are  they  identical  with  emodin.  The  principle  will  be  further 
examined  by  Prof.  WenzelL — Phar.  Rundschau,  N.  Y.,  1886,  p.  79. 
Ferment  of  Gums. — According  to  J.  Wiesner,  gum  arabic  as  well  as 
other  vegetable  gums  and  mucilages,  such  as  flaxseed,  and  those  tissues 
in  which  cellulose  is  transformed  into  gum,  contain  a  diastatic  fer- 
ment, which  converts  starch  into  dextrin  and  arabin  or  bassorin,  but 
which  does  not  decompose  glucosides,  does  not  convert  proteids  into 
peptones  and  has  no  inverting  action  on  sugar;  its  presence  interferes 
with  the  conversion  of  starch  into  sugar  by  bacteria  or  by  diastase. 
By  long  continued  boiling  the  ferment  is  decomposed;  when  boiled 
with  strong  hydrochloric  acid  and  orcin,  a  red  color  is  produced, 
changing  to  violet  with  the  production  of  a  blue  precipitate,  which  is 
soluble  in  alcohol. —  Monatsh.  Chem.y  vi,  p.  592-619. 
Raffinose  and  Gossypose,  according  to  C.  Scheibler,  are  identical, 
have  the  formula  C18H32016  -f-  5H20,  are  dextrorotatory  giving  [a]  D 
— 103.9,  and  when  inverted  by  sulphuric  acid  give  identical  results. 
