Am'jJa°nU)r'i8>79"m'}  Sufyhur  Mining  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  .  17 
in  acid  solutions  and  imperfectly  in  neutral  and  alkaline.  It  is  not  ber- 
berina. 
Purify  hydrastia  by  dissolving  in  a  dilute  acid,  digesting  with  animal 
charcoal  and  filtering,  repeating  the  operation  several  times.  Or  dis- 
solve the  crystals  of  impure  hydrastia  in  boiling  alcohol  and  crystallize, 
repeating  the  operation  several  times.  Specimens  of  small  hydrastia 
crystals,  apparently  white,  are  found  to  be  yellow  when  crystallized  in 
large  masses.  It  is  very  difficult  to  obtain  an  article  free  from  yellow- 
ness if  the  crystals  be  large.     I  have  none. 
Hydrastia  is  insoluble  or  nearly  insoluble  in  water,  freely  soluble  in 
cold  chloroform,  and  to  an  extent  in  cold  alcohol,  very  soluble  in  boil- 
ing alcohol,  from  which  it  separates  in  beautiful  crystals.  It  forms 
salts  with  acids,  mostly  very  soluble  in  water,  uncrystallizable  or  crys- 
tallizing with  difficulty. 
These  incidental  products  are  of  little  general  interest  to  manufac- 
turers, as  only  berberina  salts  are  in  demand. 
I  have  already  digressed  from  the  direct  line  of  my  query.  I  will 
close  by  saying  that  there  is  a  doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  the  relations  of 
these  several  principles  while  associated  in  the  plant.  I  cannot  believe 
they  are  as  simple  as  we  might  expect  and  is  generally  believed.  I 
doubt  even  if  berberina  and  hydrastia  are  not  mutually  combined  with 
other  bodies.  The  splitting  up  of  these  organic  compounds  under  the 
influence  of  chemical  agents,  drying  the  plants,  and  the  action  of  solv- 
ents, is  with  me  very  obscure. 
SULPHUR  MINING  ON  THE  PACIFIC  COAST. 
By  Rich.  V.  Mattison,  Ph.  G. 
Read  at  the  Alumni  Meeting,  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  December  4. 
Among  the  variety  of  mineral  productions  of  the  Pacific  Coast,  the 
mining,  the  various  processes  for  the  reduction  of  ores,  the  curious 
formations  of  the  metalliferous  lodes,  etc.,  there  are  few  subjects  of  more 
interest  to  the  Eastern  pharmacist  or  chemist  than  the  production  of 
sulphur.  Through  Nevada  and  Montana  Territories,  sulphur  deposits 
are  found  in  numerous  places,  and  the  element  quarried  out  in  masses 
of  considerable  size  and  of  remarkable  purity,  as  the  sample  exhibited, 
marked  No.  1,  will  show,  this  particular  sample  being  from  the  mines 
near  Humboldt,  Nevada,  where  the  sulphur  exists  in  veins  among  the 
