98 
Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {-'^'"•/eT'ifsi*"""" 
The  further  examination  of  the  root  and  stem^  more  than  the  re- 
sults given,  could  not  be  completed  for  want  of  time. 
RECAPITULATION  OF  PROXIMATE  ANALYSIS. 
Extracted  by  petroleum  spirit. 
"  ether....  
"        "  alcohol  
"        "  water  
"    diluted  NaOH.... 
HCl  
Loss  by  chlorine  
Residues,  cellulose,  etc  
Ash  
Moisture  
Loss  
T  1?  A  "VrTTC 
LiJliA.  V  Jiio* 
ROOT. 
4-582 
0  275 
0-380 
2-575 
0-316 
0-338 
2-490 
0-833 
12-699 
1-200 
2-193 
5-440 
43-590 
11-220 
5-466 
7-050 
12-700 
6-100 
7.083 
1-311 
IQO- 
ABSTRACTS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
Translated  for  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Prepabation  of  a  Dextrin  to  Replace  Gum  Arabic. — 
The  registry  of  the  following  process,  by  Schuhmann,  was  announced 
on  November  3d,  1887:  The  milk  of  starch  is  treated  with  one  one- 
hundredth  part  of  its  weight  in  starch,  of  hydrochloric,  nitric  or  sulphuric 
acid.  In  twenty-four  hours  the  mixture  is  washed  until  the  waters 
give  no  acid  reaction.  The  starch  paste  thus  prepared  is  diluted  to  a 
thick  pap,  and  heated  in  a  digester  to  160°-170°C. ;  or  it  may  be 
treated  in  a  closed  vessel  under  ordinary  pressure,  with  a  current  of 
super-heated  air  or  vapor,  until  the  product  ceases  to  color  with  iodine. 
The  soluble  product  thus  obtained  is  diluted  to  20°-25°  Beaum^,  and 
— a  little  albumin  being  added — is  heated  to  the  boiling  point  and 
passed  into  a  Taylor  apparatus,  or  into  a  press-filter,  in  which  it  is 
clarified  and  made  colorless  with  bone-black.  Thus  purified  it  is 
evaporated  to  a  proper  consistence,  or  may  be  reduced  to  dryness.  A 
small  quantity  of  vegetable  gum  may  be  added  with  advantage.  The 
mass  obtained  by  this  process  is  entirely  soluble  in  warm  or  cold  water ; 
it  is  odorless  and  tasteless,  and  greatly  resembles  gum  arable,  both  in 
its  aspect  and  its  properties ;  and  it  may  replace  gum  arable  in  most 
of  its  uses. — Moniteur  8cientifique,  p.  41,  January,  1888. 
