Current  Literature.  ?>27 
conversely,  the  solid  expands  remarkably  in  contact  with  water. 
The  jelly  precipitates  inorganic  salts  also,  e.g.,  barium  chloride, 
lead  acetate,  zinc  sulphate,  etc. 
It  will  be  observed  that  the  phenomenon  is  one  of  colloidal 
chemistry.  The  thought  suggested  itself  that  water-deposited  clay 
might  show  the  same  action ;  indeed,  it  was  found  by  Mr.  Waldbott 
last  summer  that  the  fine  blue  clay  so  abundant  in  the  hills  of 
Cincinnati,  after  treatment  with  hydrochloric  acid,  had  the  same 
effect  upon  alkaloidal  salts,  rather  faintly  as  may  be  expected,  yet 
very  distinctly. 
In  the  course  of  this  investigation,  other  colloidal  materials  were 
also  examined,  and  it  was  found  among  others  that  colloidal 
silicic  acid,  or  colloidal  arsenious  sulphide  plainly  precipitated 
quinine  sulphate. 
POISONING  BY  GINKGO. 
Several  botanists  after  dissecting  the  fruits  of  Ginkgo  have 
developed  what  appeared  to.be  ivy  poisoning.  As  the  juice  of  the 
Ginkgo  produced  an  immediate  irritation  of  the  skin,  it  was  sus- 
pected that  the  rash  which  developed  the  following  day  was  due 
to  this.  Later  tests  proved  this  to  be  the  case.  The  poison  is 
in  the  outer  fleshy  layer.  It  does  not  affect  all  people,  since  the 
gardeners  at  Smith  College  and  at  Mount  Holyoke  College  have 
never  been  poisoned  by  handling  the  Ginkgo  fruits,  but  a  gardener 
in  Elyria,  Ohio,  who  cares  for  a  fruiting  tree  in  the  yard  of  Mr. 
William  G.  Sharp,  writes  that  he  is  poisoned  every  fall  by  hand- 
ling the  fruits.  The  irritation  produced  is  greater  than  that  of 
poison  ivy,  and  the  infection  spreads  more  persistently  and  is  com- 
municated from  one  person  to  another.  Pustules  rarely  form, 
however,  as  in  ivy  poisoning,  but  there  is  a  heavy  red  rash,  attended 
by  the  formation  of  welts  in  severe  cases. — Anna  M.  Starr, 
Mount  Holyoke  College,  South  Hadley,  Mass.,  in  The  Botanical 
Gazette,  March,  191 3,  p.  251. 
DRUG  DETERIORATION. 
The  Wayne  County  (Michigan)  Medical  Society  recently  ap- 
pointed a  committee  to  cooperate  with  a  similar  committee  appointed 
by  the  Detroit  Retail  Druggists  Association  to  investigate  the 
question  of  deterioration  of  drugs.  Dr.  W.  J.  Wilson,  Jr.,  of 
Detroit,  calls  attention  to  this  fact  and  sends  a  copy  of  the  report: 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
July,  1913.  f 
