Am.  Tour.  Pharm.  \ 
October,  19 19.  -1 
Current  Literature. 
695 
condenser  terminating  in  a  glass  tube  dipping  below  the  surface  of 
50  Cc.  of  water  placed  in  a  receiver.  Distillation  was  continued  for 
thirty  minutes,  but  it  was  ascertained,  by  titrations  made  at  inter- 
vals, that  the  whole  of  the  acetone  had  distilled  over  after  ten 
minutes,  the  distillate  then  containing  33.6  Mgrms.  of  acetone  by  the 
Messinger  method.  The  losses  recorded  by  Geelmuyden  did  not 
occur,  and  it  is  suggested  that  that  author  did  not  have  the  end  of 
the  condenser  dipping  below  the  water  in  the  receiver.  (The 
Analyst,  May,  191 9.) 
New  Urinary  Reagents. — The  following  reagent  is  said  to  fur- 
nish a  very  delicate  test  1  :  1. 000.000)  for  albumin.  Added  to  urine 
it  produces  a  white  ring  at  the  junction  of  the  liquids  (II  Policlinico, 
Mar.,  1918)  : 
Potassium  bichromate    10  Gm.  - 
Dilute  sulphuric  acid  (25  per  cent.)   100  Drops 
Glacial  acetic  acid   100  Drops 
Distilled  water    100  Gm. 
A  copper-phosphate  mixture  is  recommended  by  Folin  and  Mc- 
Ellroy  (Jour.  Biol.  Chem.,  1918,  33,  513)  as  a  reagent  for  sugar. 
They  claim  for  the  alkaline  phosphates  the  advantages  that  they  are 
cheaper,  that  they  do  not  themselves  reduce  sugar,  and  that  they 
tend  to  regulate  the  degree  of  alkalinity  at  a  lower  level  of  hydroxyl 
ion  concentration  than  is  obtained  by  carbonates  alone.  The  mix- 
ture is  as  reliable  as  Benedict's  reagent  and  rather  more  prompt. 
Its  formula  is  as  follows : 
Sodium  pyrophosphates    100  Gm. 
Crystallized  disodium  phosphate    30  Gm. 
Sodium  carbonate    50  Gm. 
Water    1  Liter 
To  this  add  : — 
Copper  sulphate  (CuSCX  5H„0)    13  Gm. 
Water    200  Cc. 
(From  The  Prescriber,  September,  1919.) 
Oxidation  of  Apomorphine. — It  has  already  been  shown  that 
when  morphine  is  digested  with  unsterilized  food  substances  no 
apomorphine  is  produced,  nor  is  such  the  case  with  ferments  in  the 
