450  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {^'^sel'^\^^"^- 
the  monkey  and  wild  boar  eat  with  avidity.  Brousmiche  and  Lanes- 
san  class  it  under  the  rutacese  as  Irvingia  harmandiana.  The  natives 
gather,  bruise  and  heat  the  fruit  and  express  the  oil,  which  hardens 
into  a  waxy  mass.  The  Annamites  get  but  20  per  cent,  of  fat 
from  it.  By  treating  with  sulphide  of  carbon,  however,  52  |>er 
cent,  of  fat  may  be  extracted.  The  fat  is  not  a  true  wax,  but 
resembles  butter  of  cacao,  for  which  it  may  become  a  substitute.  It 
melts  at  38°  and  solidifies  at  35°,  and  in  dry  distillation  gives  acrolein.^ 
— Rev.  Sclentifique ;  Xouv.  Bern.,  June  24,  1888. 
Galactose  A^D  A.eabixose. — At  a  meeting  of  the  Paris  Society 
of  Pharmacy,  July  4th,  M.  Bourquelot  said  that  chemists  are  not 
agreed  concerning  the  susceptibility  of  galactose  to  fermentation.  He 
explains  the  disagreement  as  follows:  Galactose  does  not  ferment 
when  it  is  pure;  it  will  undergo  alcoholic  fermentation,  however, 
whenever  it  contains  traces  of  glucose.  Levulose  and  maltose  present 
the  same  phenomenon,  ^^riters  also  contest  the  bi-rotary  power  of 
arabinose;  they  are  in  error.  The  reason  they  have  not  observed  it 
is  because  the  conditions  were  defective.  It  is  indispensable  to  take 
the  rotary  power  immediately  after  preparing  the  solution ;  the  ])ower 
attains  its  inferior  limit  within  half  an  hour.  M.  Bourcjuelot  added 
that  with  maltose,  glucose  and  galactose, — which  all  j^ossess  a  double 
rotary  power — heat  acts  in  a  diiferent  manner.  In  maltose  the  power 
is  weakest  at  the  time  of  manufacture,  galactose  and  glucose  act  like 
arabinose. — Arch,  de  phar.,  Aug.  5,  1888. 
Geaxdifloeixe. — M.  D.  Freire  (Compt.  Bend.,  Acad,  des  Sci.) 
gives  this  name  to  a  substance  he  has  obtained  from  the  fruit  of  Sola- 
nurn  grandiflorurn,  var.  puhe'rulentum.  He  treated  the  sarcocarp  with 
water  and  hydrated  lime  and  evaporated  to  dryness.  This  gave  a 
residuum  which  was  exhausted  with  absolute  alcohol;  evaporation  of 
the  filtered  liquid  separates  a  resinous  matter;  after  cooling,  the  nearly 
solid  residuum  is  treated  by  dilute  hydrochloric  acid,  which  dissolves 
the  alkaloid  but  leaves  the  resinous  matter.  The  solution  is  decolor- 
ized and  precipitated  by  ammonia.  The  alkaloid,  dried  over  sulphuric 
acid,  is  white,  bitter,  insoluble  in  water,  and  soluble  in  alkalies  and 
dilute  acids.  Heated  with  hydrated  potash,  it  sets  free  ammonia,  and 
the  solution  gives  alkaloidal  reactions.    With  sulphuric  acid  it  gives 
^  For  an  account  of  cay-cay  wax  by  J.  B.  Tignoli  see  Amer.  Joitr.  Phae.,  18S6. 
p.  409. 
