^'^N?v.?i888^'"^'}     Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  665 
brilliant  prisms.  With  sulphuric  acid  it  forms  a  definite  combination 
appearing  in  beautiful  elongated  prisms.  M.  Cotton  has  given  the 
alkaloid  the  name  "  arganine  in  memory  of  its  botanic  origin. — J.  de 
pharm.  et  de  chim.,  Oct.  1,  1888. 
Hedwigia  Balsamifera. — Gaucher,  Combemale  and  Marestang 
describe  this  plant  to  the  Acad,  des  Sci.,  as  one  of  the  terebinthacese 
growing  in  the  Antilles.  The  authors  tested  its  physiological  effects 
with  extracts  from  the  bark  of  both  roots  and  stems,  given  hypoder- 
mically  to  guinea-pigs.  It  caused  rapid  and  considerable  lowering  of 
temperature ;  progressive  paralysis ;  generalized  convulsions ;  pupilar 
dilation;  vaso-dilator  phenomena;  and,  in  mortal  intoxication,  re- 
spiratory irregularity  and  cardiac  paresis.  They  found  it  to  be  a  nerve 
poison,  hypothermic,  paralyzing  and  spasmodic,  affecting  the  medulla. 
The  extract  was  observed  to  contain  an  alkaloid  and  a  resin,  the  former 
being  more  especially  a  convulsivant  and  the  latter  a  paralyzing  agent. 
The  resin  appears  to  be  more  active  than  the  alkaloid.  Apart  from 
its  antithermic  qualities,  the  extract  seems  to  act  like  curare. — V  Un- 
ion mM.,  Oct.  6,  1888. 
Salicylated  Eggs. — According  to  the  Bull.  de.  pharm.  de  Lyon^ 
the  merchants  of  that  city  are  now  preserving  eggs  in  salicylated  water 
instead  of  lime  water.  The  merchants  claimed  that  the  preservation 
was  due  to  the  fact  that  the  water  was  kept  purified  by  the  acid,  which 
latter  could  not,  however,  penetrate  to  the  substance  of  the  egg.  M. 
Lambert,  a  local  pharmacist,  finds  nevertheless,  that  the  salicylic  acid 
passes  through  the  membrane  by  endosmosis  and  becomes  diffused  into 
the  yelk.  His  tests  were  as  follows  :  Beat  up  the  white  with  a  little 
acidulated  water  and  agitate  with  ether,  which,  on  evaporation  leaves 
the  salicylic  acid,  characterized  by  its  reaction  with  weak  perchloride 
of  iron.  The  same  method  is  used  for  the  yelk,  whose  albumen  should 
first  be  coagulated  by  heat  in  order  to  keep  the  oil  from  emulsifying. 
Tlie  Abuse  of  Antipyrin.— That  antipyrin  is  being  very  generally 
used  without  the  advice  of  a  physician,  appears  from  the  evidence  which 
has  been  obtained  from  both  physicians  and  druggists.  It  is  said  to  be  not 
an  uncommon  thing  for  those  who  suffer  from  headaches  to  purchase  the 
drug  and  take  it  in  twenty  grain  doses,  entirely  unconscious  that  they  run 
any  risk  in  so  doing.  Evidence  is  accumulating  that  antipyrin  so  used  is 
fraught  with  danger,  and  there  are  already  enough  cases  recorded  of  the 
production  of  alarming  symptoms  by  small  doses  to  put  even  physicians  on 
their  guard  against  the  indiscriminate  use  of  the  drug. — Brooklyn  Medical 
Journal,  June,  1888. 
