402  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  { Am 'J™'J%T' 
water,  readily  soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether,  dissolves  in  concentrated 
sulphuric  acid,  yielding  a  yellowish-brown  solution  which  turns  violet 
on  the  addition  of  potassium  permanganate,  and  yields  straw-colored 
solutions  with  concentrated  nitric  and  hydrochloric  acid.  The  authors 
intend  to  investigate  its  physiological  and  toxicological  properties. — 
Ztschr.  d.  Allg.  Oest.  Apoth.  Ver.,  June  10,  1879,  p.  257. 
Chinese  Pear-Galls,  so-called  because  they  resemble  pears  in  shape, 
are  as  large  as  medium  sized  plums ;  a  transverse  section  shows  a 
layer  of  strongly  tangentiaily  stretched  parenchyma-tissue,  consisting 
of  7  or  8  rows  of  cells  next  to  the  epidermis  ;  the  tangential  elonga- 
tion of  the  cells  gradually  diminishes,  and  near  the  centre  they  sud- 
denly become  radially  elongated.  In  ordinarv  Chinese  galls  the  layer 
consists  of  about  3  rows  of  cells,  which  are  never  radially  elongated. 
C.  Hartwich  ascertained  the  pear-galls  to  contain  72  per  cent,  tannic 
acid  on  an  average,  but  he  was  not  able  to  trace  their  origin. — Archiv 
d.  Pkarm.,  June,  1879,  p.  524. 
Pure  Cuprous  Chloride  is  prepared  by  Max  Rosenfeld  by  conduct- 
ing sulphurous  acid  into  a  solution  of  equal  parts  of  sodium  chloride 
and  copper  sulphate,  and  washing  the  resulting  cuprous  chloride  on  a 
filter,  first  with  sulphurous  acid  until  the  filtrate  passes  colorless,  and 
then  with  glacial  acetic  acid  until  the  product  becomes  white.  The 
acid  is  then  removed  as  much  as  possible  by  suction,  the  cuprous  chlo- 
ride pressed  between  filtering-paper  and  dried  on  a  water-bath  until 
odorless  ;  0*5314  gram  of  the  chemical  thus  prepared  yielded  on 
analysis  0*4266  gram  copper  sulphate=0'34o6  gram  copper=64'09  per 
cent,  copper. — Ber.  d.  Deutsch.  Chem.  Ges  ,  1879,  xii,  p.  954. 
Limonin  and  Columbin. — C.  Schmidt  considers  limonin  (from 
various  species  of  citrus),  and  columbin  (from  colomba  root),  which 
correspond  closely  in  their  composition  as  identical,  while  E.  Paterno 
and  A.Oglialoro  deny  their  identity,  and  state  that  they  differ  in  melting 
point  and  in  behavior  towards  alkaloids.  Limonin  melts  at  275°C, 
and  columbin  at  i82°C.  Limonin  dissolves  unaltered  in  potassa  lye, 
an  acid  salt  is  formed  when  columbin  is  boiled  with  it;  limonin,  on  the 
other  hand,  forms  a  compound  with  baryta,  which  is  not  decomposed 
by  carbonic  acid,  but  from  which  stronger  acids  separate  the  unaltered 
limonin. — Ber.  d  Deutsch,  Chem.  Ges.,  xii,  p.  685,  from  Gazz.  Chem. 
