^"^A^ri^fsS"™  }     Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  177 
are  pure  white  and  yield  when  melted,  an  entirely  colorless  or  only 
slightly  reddish  acid.    Pharm.  Ztg.  1887,  p.  746. 
Beta-Naphthol  for  medicinal  use,  according  to  Fischer  in  Berlin^ 
Pharm.  Zeitung,  is  sold  at  an  unreasonably  high  price.  A  product 
equally  as  pure  and  decidedly  cheaper  can  be  obtained  by  recrystaliz- 
ing  ordinary  napthhol  of  commerce  from  petroleum  benzin.  Rund- 
schau, Frag,  1887  p.  998. 
The  Dangerous  Character  of  Dinitrohresol. — Weyl,  in  a  report 
before  the  Berlin  Medical  Society  advises  that  the  sale  of  dinitrokres- 
ol  be  prohibited.  It  is  offered  for  sale  in  the  market  as  a  substitute 
for  saffron  and  in  a  recent  case  in  Berlin,  made  public,  it  was  shown: 
that  used  internally  it  had  caused  death.  In  making  a  purchase 
from  an  apothecary  dinitrokresol  was  given  instead  of  saffron  as 
asked  for,  and  its  internal  use,  probably  as  an  emmenagogue,  pro- 
duced fatal  results.    Rundschau,  Frag,  1887,  p.  959. 
A  Cure  for  the  Morphine  Habit. — Cramer,  accidentally  discovered 
in  the  tincture  of  castor,  (castor  1,  alcohol  5.)  a  remedy  for  breaking 
off  the  morphine  habit.  Rundschau  1887,  p.  812.  Fharm.  Cen- 
tralh.,  1887,  p.  645. 
For  Mosquito  Bites,  Dr.  Gerard  recommends  to  paint  the  affected 
part  with  chloroform.  The  pain  and  itching  are  stopped  at  once,  and 
the  swelling  is  soon  reduced.  It  can  also  be  used  for  the  sting  of 
other  insects.    Fharm.  Fost.  1887,  p,  676. 
Forcelain  Shot. — Under  this  name  small  white  globules  of  porce- 
lain are  made  in  Munich.  They  are  made  to  take  the  place  of  ordi- 
nary lead  shot  used  for  cleaning  wine  and  medicine  bottles,  as  porce- 
lain is  entirely  free  from  the  objection  of  producing  lead  contamination, 
which  is  often  the  result  when  ordinary  shot  is  used.  Their  hardness 
and  rough  surface  producing  when  shaken  greater  friction,  adapt  the 
porcelain  shot  well  for  quickly  cleaning  dirty  and  greasy  bottles,  and 
as  they  are  not  acted  upon  by  acids  or  alkalies  almost  any  liquid  can 
be  used. — Rundschau,  Frag,  1887,  p.  942. 
Instantaneous  Cold, — Under  this  name  a  convenient  substitute  for 
outward  application  of  ice  is  made  by  Baschlin  of  Montpellier.  It 
consists  of  felting  made  from  cotton,  jute,  cotton-waste  or  china-grass, 
saturated  with  a  mixture  of  several  salts,  (nitrate  of  ammonium,  chlo- 
ride of  ammonium,  nitrate  of  potassium  and  sulphate  of  sodium) 
which  upon  wetting  with  water  produces  a  low  temperature. — Fhar. 
CentralL,  1887,  p.  532. 
