222  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {^'^£yl[mT'^' 
Decomposition  of  Caffeidina, — Strecker  reported  in  1862,  the 
decomposition,  by  caustic  baryta,  of  caffeina  into  caifeidina.  0. 
Schultzen  decomposed  the  latter  alkaloid  completely  by  baryta  and 
obtained  ammonia,  methylamina,  formic  acid  and  a  crystalline  body, 
CgHyNO^.  Francis  Rosengarten  has  now  proven  that  the  latter  is 
identical  with  sarkosina. — Aym.  d.  Cliem.  und  Pliarm.^  1871,  Jan. 
1—6. 
Oil  of  Geranium. — Dr.  Oscar  Jacobsen  has  found  in  commercial 
Indian  oil  of  Greranium  8  per  cent,  alcohol,  and  in  another  sample 
20  per  cent,  fixed  oil.  Repeated  fractional  distillation  of  the  volatile 
oil  yielded  a  distillate  boiling  between  232°  and  233°  C,  and  of  the 
composition  CgoH^gO^.  This  geraniol  is  a  colorless  liquid  of  very 
agreeable  rose  odor,  soluble  in  all  proportions  in  alcohol  and  ether, 
insoluble  in  water,  optically  inactive  and  remains  liquid  at  — 15°  C. 
It  yields,  with  recently  fused  chloride  of  calcium,  a  crystalline  com- 
pound, and  with  fusing  hydrate  of  potassa,  valerianic  acid  ;  chromate 
of  potassa  and  sulphuric  acid  oxidizes  it  to  succinic,  acetic  and  vale- 
rianic acids. — Ihid..^  Febr.^  232 — 239. 
Neiv  Reagent  for  Ar seine. — A  Bettendorff  found  that  an  aqueous 
solution  of  arsenious  or  arsenic  acid,  to  which  sufficient  muriatic  acid 
has  been  added  until  it  fumes  faintly,  produces,  with  protochloride  of 
tin,  a  brown  turbidity,  and  the  resulting  precipitate  is  mainly  metallic 
arsenic  containing  some  tin.  One  millionth  part  of  arsenic  is  thus 
readily  detected.  If  the  muriatic  acid  is  too  dilute,  the  reaction  does 
not  occur.  Solutions  of  antimony  are  not  affected.  Muriatic  acid 
containing  arsenic  may  be  purified  by  first  precipitating  with  proto- 
chloride of  tin,  filtering  and  rectifying. —  Wittst.  Viertelj.  Schr.,  1870, 
430,  from  Zeitschr.  f  Chemie,  1869,  xii,  492. 
Separation  of  Tin,  Antimony  and  Arsenic. — F.  W.  Clarke  {Arner, 
Journ.  Science,  1870,  Jan.)  proposed  to  pass  sulphuretted  hydrogen 
into  the  solution  of  the  metals,  strongly  acidulated  with  oxalic  acid  ; 
the  tin  was  stated  to  remain  in  solution.  Albert  B.  Clark,  Jr.,  has 
proven,  in  Wittstein's  laboratory,  the  incorrectness  of  the  proposed 
method  for  analytical  purposes. — Ibid.,  549 — 554. 
Muriatic  Acid  containing  Bromine  has  been  observed  by  Wittstein  ; 
its  color  was  deep  golden  yellow ;  the  stratum  of  air  in  the  bottle  had 
a  brownish  yellow  color,  and  rapidly  bleached  litmus  paper. — Ibid.  590 
