452  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {^££;J£m' 
white  crystals  of  the  sulphate  of  a  liquid  right-rotating  alkaloid,  the 
rotatory  power  of  which  is  AD=30°.  The  left-rotating  compound  is 
found  chiefly  in  the  stem,  while  the  right-rotating  predominates  in  the 
root.  The  crystalline  alkaloid  has  the  formula  C9H15N30,4H20,  and 
forms  prisms,  fusing  at  460  and  boiling  at  2460,  which  are  easily  solu- 
ble in  alcohol,  water  and  ether.  Its  salts  are  crystalline. — Ber.  der 
Chem.  Ges.,  xii,  p.  1212,  from  Comptes  Rendus,  88,  No.  13. 
Dessicator  for  Car  b  on- di  sulphide,  Ether,  Chloroform  and  Benzol. — Fre- 
quently it  is  desirable  to  evaporate  considerable  amounts  of  the  above- 
mentioned  solvents  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  the  substance  dissolved 
in  them  without  the  application  of  heat.  The  spontaneous  evaporation 
of  these  liquids  in  the  laboratory  is  not  convenient  because  of  the  char- 
acter of  the  vapors  liberated,  and  all  of  the  solvent  must  be  lost  for  future 
use.  Liebermann  uses  a  simple  device  to  avoid  this.  The  solutions  to 
be  evaporated  are  placed  in  an  ordinary  dessicator  in  which,  instead  of 
sulphuric  acid,  pieces  of  low-fusing  paraffin  are  placed.  The  different 
liquids  evaporate  rapidly  over  the  paraffin,  which  does  not  lose  its 
absorptive  power  even  when  liquefied.  Experiments  showed  that  par- 
affin absorbed  its  own  weight  of 
Carbon  disulphide,  .  .  .    in  4  to  5  hours 
Ether,       .  .  .  8  to  9 
Chloroform,       .  .  .  .         9  to  11 
For  benzol  the  absorption  is  considerably  slower.  The  paraffin  will 
take  up  more  than  three  times  its  weight  of  CS2  and  more  than  twice 
its  weight  of  ether.  These  solvents  can  be  recovered  by  simple  dis- 
tillation from  the  paraffin  solution,  and  are  gotten  perfectly  pure. — Ber* 
der  Chem.  Ges.,  xii,  p.  1294. 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  GERMAN  JOURNALS. 
By  Louis  von  Cotzhausen,  Ph.G. 
Volatile  Oil  of  Origanum  Hirtum,  Link. — The  plant  yields  2*& 
per  cent,  of  a  reddish-yellow  volatile  oil,  which  has  an  aromatic  odor 
resembling  thyme,  a  neutral  reaction,  the  specific  gravity  0*951  at 
I5°C,  rotates  the  plane  of  polarized  light  slightly  towards  the  left,  and 
consists,  according  to  E.  Jahns'  analysis,  of  one  or  more  terpenes,  of 
50  to  60  per  cent,  of  a  phenol  having  the  formula  C10HuO,  and  iden- 
tical with  carvacrol,  of  a  minute  percentage  of  a  volatile  acid  and  of  a 
