452  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {"^"^'sejr.'ilS""^' 
volumes  of  absinth;  twenty  volumes  of  juniper;  thirty  volumes  of 
angelica,  lemon  and  orange. 
They  are  more  permanent,  possess  greater  solubility  in  alcohol  and 
water,  have  a  finer  odor  rendered  prominent  only  on  great  dilution, 
aud  are  of  constant  composition,  thus  enabling  the  specific  gravity 
and  boiling  point  to  be  used  as  tests  of  purity.  1  he  use  in  pharmacy 
suggested  is  for  medicated  Avaters  made  by  agitation  of  the  oils  with 
distilled  water  and  filtering ;  also  for  elseosacchara,  etc.  They  should 
be  kept  in  the  dark. — Pharm.  Centralh.,  1888,  No.  25. 
An  adhesive  mixture  consisting  of  rock  candy  30  parts,  dissolved 
in  solution  silicate  of  sodium  1 00  parts,  is  recommended  by  Kayser 
in  Bayer.  Gew.  Ztg.^  for  the  adhesion  of  paper  on  paper,  leather, 
metal  (tin  boxes)  and  wood. — Randsch.,  1888,  p.  574. 
Nylander^s  Sugar  Test.  2  gm.  bismuth  subnitrate,  4  gm.  rochelle 
salt,  100  gm.  solution  of  soda  (8  per  cent.)  Advantages :  Easy  prep- 
aration, stability  and  delicacy  (0.025  per  cent,  can  still  be  detected). 
(See  Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1887,  p.  3dQ.)— Pharm.  Post,  1888,  p.  427. 
Tartaric  and  Citric  Acids.  If  a  solution  of  citric  acid  be  colored 
by  addition  of  one  drop  of  potassium  chromate  solution,  the  color, 
even  after  addition  of  a  few  drops  of  sulphuric  acid  does  not  change 
on  several  days'  standing.  Tartaric  acid  under  similar  conditions, 
especially  on  addition  of  sulphuric  acid,  more  or  less  rapidly  according 
to  quantity  present,  changes  to  the  violet  color  of  the  sesqui  salts  of 
chromium,  and  it  is  possible  to  positively  detect  J  per  cent,  tartaric 
acid  in  citric  acid  by  allowing  the  time  of  observation  to  extend  to  a 
few  hours.    Salzer,  in  Berichte,  1888,  p.  1910. 
The  examination  of  belladonna,  hyoscyamus  and  stramonium  ex- 
tracts of  the  various  pharmacopoeias  is  tabularized  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  various  articles  by  Richard  Kordes  in  the  Pharm.  Ztschr.  /. 
Russl,  1888,  pp.  386,404,422. 
The  extracts  were  prepared  from  the  same  lot  of  drugs  by  the 
author,  except  in  a  few  cases  when  the  preparation  was  made  from 
the  fresh  drug ;  such  preparations  were  purchased  of  Merck.  The 
extracts  were  mixed  with  lime  and  extracted  with  ether ;  this  solution 
evaporated  nearly  to  dryness  and  titrated  with  tuf  normal  sulphuric 
acid ;  on  obtaining  a  faint  acid  reaction,  ether  was  added  to  dissolve 
the  resinous  matter  precipitated,  carrying  with  it  a  portion  of  the 
alkaloid  ;  this  precaution  was  repeated  until  a  permanent  slight  acid 
reaction  was  gotten. 
