Am.  Jour.  Pharm  ) 
April,  1879.  J 
Editorial. 
223 
advocated  its  preparation  from  hydrochlorate  instead  of  sulphate  of  quinia.  The 
latter  salt  partly  crystallizes  from  the  tincture  of  orange  peel,  if  but  slightly  deficient 
in  alcohol,  and  sometimes  a  precipitate  of  sulphate  of  calcium  is  produced  ;  both 
inconveniences  are  avoided  with  hydrochlorate  of  quinia,  which  however  contains  82 
per  cent,  of  alkaloid  against  74-5  per  cent,  in  the  sulphate. 
Mr.  J.  C.  Thresh  read  a  paper  on  the  detection  and  approximate  determination  of 
minute  quantities  of  alcohol  (see  page  87). 
Mr.  E.  M.  Holmes  read  a  paper,  entitled  an  adulteration  of  senega.  The  drug 
had  been  sent  to  London  from  Brussels ;  the  adulteration  consisted  of  the  rhizome 
and  rootlets  of  Asclepias  vincetoxicum,  Lin  ,  which  about  a  year  ago  was  reported 
by  Charbonnier,  of  Caen,  as  having  been  met  with  as  an  adulteration  of  valerian, 
and  which  Professor  Redwood  observed  had  been  received  in  London  as  white  helle- 
bore The  vincetoxicum  root  consists  of  a  horizontal  rhizome  about  ;]  inch  thick,  and 
having  a  well  defined  pith  in  the  centre  of  yellow  wood  ;  the  roots  are  numerous,  in 
tufts  about  an  inch  apart,  smooth,  scarcely  furrowed  and  without  a  keel  5  it  has  a  faint 
earthy  odor  and  a  slight  taste  and  contains  starch.  Vincetoxicum  resembles  senega  in 
color,  but  is  readily  distinguished  from  it  by  the  characters  given. 
At  the  meeting  held  Dec.  4th,  the  deposit  from  tinture  of  quinia  was  again  referred 
to.  It  was  pointed  out  that  for  some  years  past  the  calisaya  bark  of  commerce 
often  contained  scarcely  any  quinia ;  this  Mr.  Holmes  believes  to  be  due  to  the 
admixture  of  the  bark  of  Cinchona  peruviana 
Prof.  Bentley  called  attention  to  spurious  sumbul  root,  which  had  been  described 
by  Pereira  as  Indian  sumbul,  but  which  is  merely  ammoniacum  root  flavored  with 
musk,  as  was  stated  last  year  by  Dr.  Dymock.  Prof.  Bentley  also  referred  to  gentian 
root  as  derived  from  different  species  of  Gentiana  indigenous  to  Europe,  which  in 
many  respects  agree  with  the  root  of  G.  lutea. 
Mr.  Robbins  and  others  made  some  remarks  about  ethylate  of  sodium,  which  was 
introduced  some  years  ago  by  Dr.  Richardson  as  a  caustic  (see  p.  195). 
Papers  were  read  by  Mr.  J.  Williams  on  aceto-nitrate  of  iron  (see  p.  93),  and  by 
Mr.  E  M.  Holmes  on  Baycuru  root  and  guaycuru.  The  latter  is  derived  from 
statice  brasiliensis,  but  the  origin  of  baycuru  root  is  still  unknown.  The  root,  bark 
and  leaves  of  a  Brazilian  rosaceous  shrub,  Chrysobalanus  icaco,  is  used  as  an  astrin- 
gent in  chronic  diarrhoea,  leucorrhoea,  etc.,  and  a  lotion  to  heal  ulcers  and  wounds. 
EDITORIAL  DEPARTMENT. 
Poisoning  by  Chlorate  of  Potassium.— We  have  frequently  observed  that  arti- 
cles originally  contributed  to  this  journal,  on  their  way  through  several  other  cotempo- 
raries  failed  to  receive  the  proper  credit  as  to  origin,  and  occasionally  came  back 
to  the  United  States  as  neiv  information.  The  latest  case  in  point  is  Mr. 
Kennedy's  paper  with  the  above  caption,  which  was  published  on  p.  112  of  our 
last  volume,  and  which  is  now  being  credited  to  the  "  Allg,  Med.  Central  Zei- 
tung."  It  was  copied  into  that  journal  from  "  Archiv  der  Pharmacie,"  where 
proper  credit  was  given.  We  do  not  know  into  how  many  American  medical  jour- 
nals it  may  have  since  found  its  way  ;  but  we  have  noticed  it  in  the  "  Medical  and 
Surgical  Reporter"  and  in  the  Cincinnati  "Lancet  and  Clinic,"  both  of  February 
15th,  1879. 
Iodide  of  Potassium.— The  following  communication  explains  itself : 
In  justice  to  American  manufacturers,  and  especially  those  in  the  Western  States,  I  deem  it  my  duty 
to  say  that  since  the  publication  in  the  February  number  of  the  "Journal  "  (p.  76),  of  the  article  relating 
to  the  adulteration  of  iodide  of  potassium,  I  have  discovered  that  the  sample  referred  to  is  an  imported 
drug,  though  at  the  time  I  supposed  it  was  of  Western  manufacture  from  the  manner  in  which  the  labels 
upon  the  bottle  were  printed.  C.  E.  DE  PUY. 
Chelsea,  Mich.,  February  28th,  1879. 
