552  Parifkation  of  Fats  and  Suets,        {'^Dee.'^  mf 
American  oil  at  my  command,  although  it  has  the  same  agreeable  fla- 
vor. Does  it,  that  is  to  say  its  solid  part,  which  appears  to  be  pre- 
vailing, agree  with  the  Japanese  drug?  I  have  ascertained  that  the 
latter  is  not  altered  by  the  treatment  with  nitric  acid ;  it  may,  there" 
fore,  very  likely  be  identical  with  the  crystallizable  part  of  Chinese 
oil.  I  have  also  been  informed  by  the  said  Swiss  gentleman  that  the 
"  Chinese  medicine"  in  cold  weather  solidifies  even  in  California. 
I  should  be  happy  if  my  fragmentary  observations  could  induce 
some  resident  in  China  or  Japan  to  devote  some  investigation  to- 
the  mother-plant  of  the  Eastern  soils  under  notice,  and  to  the  pro- 
duction of  the  latter.  Is  the  solid  Japanese  oil  obtained  by  means  of 
cooling  from  a  liquid  similar  to  the  Chinese  oil  ?  Chinese  oil  is  said 
to  be  distilled  at  Canton.* 
As  to  the  former,  I  beg  to  remind  that  it  has  been  shown  by  Oppen- 
heim  and  by  Gorup-Besanezt  to  agree  with  the  formula  CjoHig-j-HgO, 
I  and  to  possess  the  nature  of  an  alcohol.  This  so-called  Menthol  ap- 
pears to  be  identical  with  peppermint-camphor,  which  sometimes  in 
cold  separates  from  peppermint  oil ;  their  identity,  however,  is  not 
quite  satisfactorily  proved.  Camphor  obtained  from  peppermint  oil 
has  been  analyzed  by  Dumas,  by  Blanchet  and  Sell,  and  also  by- 
Walter. J  Its  percentage  composition  is  the  same  as  that  of  menthol.. 
— Pharm.  Joiirn.^  Lond.^  Oct.  21,  1871. 
THE  PURIFICATION  OF  FATS  AND  SUETS. 
The  task  that  devolved  upon  the  authorities  of  Paris  during  the- 
late  siege  of  that  city  by  the  Germans,  of  obtaining  food  for  the  many 
thousands  who  were  cut  off  by  the  iron  circle  of  their  enemies  from 
their  usual  sources  of  supply,  was  a  difficult,  and,  as  the  event  proved, 
an  impossible  one.  Towards  its  accomplishment,  however,  great  efi*orts 
were  put  forth  by  French  savans,  and  for  a  time  the  whole  current  of 
scientific  investigation  was  turned  towards  securing  increased  effect- 
iveness in  warlike  weapons,  the  enforcement  of  the  sanitary  regula- 
tions best  suited  to  the  abnormal  state  of  affairs,  and  the  discovery 
and  utilization  of  previously  unknown  or  unused  alimentary  sub- 
stances. 
^  Hanbury,  Pharm.  Journ.,  Sept.,  1871,  p.  244. 
t  Comptes  Rendus,  liii,  379,  483;  Journ,  Ohem.  Soc,  xv,  24;  Jahresbericht 
der  Chemie,  von  Kopp  und  Will.,  1861,  683g 
X  Gmelin,  Org.  Chemistry,  viii,  450. 
