512 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association. 
J  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
t        Oct.,  1886. 
preservation  of  solutions  for  hypodermic  injections,  using  from  5  to  7 
grains  to  a  pint  of  distilled  water;  also,  for  the  preservation  of  beef  juice, 
by  sprinkling  on  a  pound  of  finely  chopped  beef  about  10  grains  of  the 
Ghemical,  warming  to  130°  F.  and  expressing  quickly.  Most  of  the- 
chemicals  tried  produce  no  change  with  the  compound ;  nitric  acid  causes 
an  orange-yellow  color  changing  to  a  turbid  olive-green,  which,  in  reflected 
light,  appears  dull  purple.  Ammonia  produces  a  purplish  tinge,  becom- 
ing straw-colored. 
Butter  and  its  substitutes,  by  Prof.  E.  SchefTer.  The  author  recommends 
as  a  suitable  solvent  for  detecting  adulterations  or  substitutions  of  butter,  a 
mixture  of  40  volumes  of  rectified  amylic  alcohol  and  60  volumes  of  ether. 
In  applying  the  test,  the  substance  and  solvent  are  placed  together  in  a 
corked  test-tube  at  about  65°  F.,  and  slowly  warmed  until  the  temperature 
reaches  82°  F.  It  was  found  that  1  gm.  of  the  following  fats  and  mixtures- 
of  fats  require  for  solution  the  annexed  amounts  of  solvent: 
Butter, 
Beef  suet, 
Leaf-lard, 
Neutral  lard, 
Cottonseed  oil, 
Stearin, 
Oleomargarin, 
Oleo  oil, 
Butterin,  I., 
II., 
3  cc. 
50  " 
16-4  " 
135  " 
1.75  " 
550  " 
11'2  " 
8-6  " 
2-3  " 
11  " 
Lard  5,  butter  95  parts,    35  cc. 
1, 
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2, 
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4, 
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5 
a 
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6, 
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9, 
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144 
The  simplicity  of  the  manipulation,  and  the  characteristic  differences  in 
the  behavior  of  fats  to  the  solvent  make  this  well  adapted  not  only  for  the 
determination  of  adulterations,  but  also  for  the  approximate  quantitative 
estimation  of  the  adulterant.  The  butyric  ether  test  will  readily  distin- 
guish butterin  from  oleomargarin. 
Dioscorea  bulbifera,  by  J.  U.  Lloyd.  A  specimen  of  the  plant  with  it& 
axillary  tubers  was  shown;  it  had  been  cultivated  in  Louisiana. 
Poisoning  by  Taseline. — The  reports  of  positive  injury  having  been? 
worked  by  the  use  of  ointments,  with  vaseline  as  a  base,  upon  the  eye  and 
upon  the  integument  are  not  single  and  far  between,  the  mischief  being  gener- 
ally attributed  to  impurities  of  the  preparation.  In  the  British  Medical  Journal, 
Feb.  13,  the  poisoning  of  three  children,  aged  from  8  to  14  years,  is  reported  as- 
a  consequence  of  the  internal  administration  of  about  half  a  teaspoonful  of 
vaseline  for  sore  throat.  Pain  and  cramps  in  the  extremities  and  severe  vom- 
iting ensued.  No  other  cause  than  the  taking  of  the  vaseline  wras  apparent. — 
Weekly  Med.  Review,  May  8,  1886. 
