82  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Am,/e0b.%879arm" 
and  contains  an  alkaloid  which  Hesse  calls  alstonamia.  It  differs  from 
ditamia  principally  in  being  crystalizable. 
Crossopteryx  Kotschyana,  Henzl.,  s.  C.  febrifuga,  Afzelius,  Nat.  Ord. 
Rubiaceae,  is  indigenous  to  Abysinnia.  The  bark  was  analyzed  by 
Hesse,  who  isolated  from  20  grams  of  the  bark  3*6  mg.  =  0*018  per 
cent,  of  an  alkaloid  which  Hesse  calls  crossopteria.  It  is  soluble  in  ether, 
alcohol  and  diluted  hydrochloric  acid,  and  does  not  resemble  the 
cinchona  alkaloids. — Ber.  Deutsch.  Chem.  Ges.,  1878,  p.  1546. 
Symplocos  Racemosa,  lotur-bark,  indigenous  to  India,  considered  by 
Winckler  identical  with  Batka's  China  californica,  was  analyzed  by 
O.  Hesse,  who  found  it  to  contain  0*24  per  cent. of  loturia,  o*02  per  cent. 
colloturia  and  0'o6  loturidia — three  different  alkaloids.  Loturia  crystal- 
lizes in  brilliant,  very  long,  smooth  prisms,  efflorescing  in  the  air,  is 
soluble  in  acetone,  ether,  alcohol  and  chloroform  ;  insoluble  in  water, 
ammonia  or  soda  ;  melts  at  234°C,  and  completely  neutralizes  acids. 
Colloturia  crystallizes  in  long,  brilliant  prisms,  from  alcohol,  and  in 
granules  from  ether,  and  is  not  efflorescing  in  the  air ;  its  solutions  in 
diluted  mineral  acids  possess  a  blueish-violet  fluorescence.  Loturidia 
solutions  have  the  same  fluorescence.  The  alkaloid  forms  amorphous 
compounds  with  nitric  and  hydrochloric  acids,  which  are  very  soluble 
in  water.  The  bitter  principle  isolated  by  Winckler  from  the  bark, 
and  called  californin,  is  considered  by  Hesse  to  have  been  a  mixture  of 
the  acetates  of  the  three  alkaloids  found  by  him. — Ber.  d.  Deutsch. 
•Chem.  Ges.,  1878,  p.  1542. 
Adulterations  and  Substitutions  of  Angustura  Bark. — Oberlin 
and  Schlagdenhauffen  publish  the  following  distinction  between  genuine 
Angustura-bark  and  other  barks  used  as  adulterations  and  substitutions: 
1.  Genuine  Angustura  bark  is  found  in  the  market  in  either  nearly 
flat,  slightly  curved  or  quilled  pieces,  pared  towards  the  edges,  2  or  3 
millimeters  (about  J-  inch)  in  thickness,  differing  in  length  and  pos- 
sessing a  characteristic  odor  and  a  bitter  taste.  The  pieces  swell  to 
two  or  three  times  their  original  size  when  macerated  in  water, 
becoming  soft  and  easily  divided  in  a  logitudinal  direction  ;  when  dry, 
the  bark  has  a  short,  resinous  fracture,  and  a  grayish-yellow  or  dirty 
white,  more  or  less  spongy  or  compact  outer  surface,  while  the  inner 
bark  is  pale  yellow,  smooth  or  longitudinally  striate. 
2.  Nux-vomica  bark,  known  as  "False  Angustura-bark." — When  from 
the  stem  it  is  of  an  irregular  shape,  covered  with  a  dense,  spongy  rust 
