Amji?y,rI|>76arm-}       Rhubarb  and  Rheum  Officinale.  307 
diluted  with  three  parts  of  water,  which  makes  it  two  parts  of  salicylic 
acid,  four  of  borax,  twenty-four  of  glycerin  and  ninety  of  water,  a 
cloudiness  appears  in  a  few  hours.  One  part  of  salicylic  acid  with  one 
part  of  water  of  ammonia  (200)  forms  with  ten  parts  of  water  a  perma- 
nent solution  ; — this  has  a  light-brownish  color,  a  very  faint  odor  of 
ammonia,  a  very  distinct,  sweet  taste  of  the  acid,  and  a  slight  acid 
reaction  on  litmus  paper. 
Salicylic  acid  is  soluble  in  ten  times  its  weight  of  dilute  alcohol,  at  a 
temperature  of  about  8o°  F.,  in  one  and  a  half  times  its  weight  of 
alcohol  (0*835  sp.  gr.),  and  in  twice  its  weight  of  sulphuric  ether  It  is 
nearly  insoluble  in  cold  oil  of  turpentine,  but  hot  turpentine  dissolves 
about  5  per  cent,  of  its  weight.  Its  alcoholic  solution  has  a  decided 
acid  reaction  on  litmus  paper.  An  addition  of  one-fifth  of  1  per  cent, 
of  salicylic  acid  to  aqueous  infusions  will  preserve  them  for  weeks  ; 
and  the  same  proportion  added  to  syrups  made  with  fruit  juices,  while 
it  will  not  arrest  fermentation  after  such  has  set  in,  will  prevent  the 
same. 
The  acid  used  in  the  above  experiments  was  of  Schering's  make,  and 
perfectly  white  and  inodorous. 
When  one  part  of  salicylic  acid  and  two  parts  of  olive  oil  are  heated 
together  they  form  a  homogenous  mixture,  admirably  adapted  for  ap- 
plication to  surfaces.  The  oil  will  separate  to  some  extent  on  standing 
for  a  time,  but  agitation  will  easily  combine  it  again. 
REMARKS  UPON  RHUBARB  AND  RHEUM  OFFICINALE. 
BY  F.  A.  FLUCKIGER. 
In  recent  years  the  French  missionaries  have  gained  the  advantage 
of  being  able  to  seek  for  the  rhubarb  plant  in  Southeast  Thibet,  and 
already  in  1863  the  apostolic  vicar  of  the  district,  Monseigneur  Chau- 
veau,  knew  where  to  procure  it.  But  it  was  in  1867  that  Dabry,  the 
French  Consul  at  Hankow,  was  first  able  to  forward  to  the  Society  of 
Acclimatization  in  Paris  a  living  root,  which,  although  it  arrived  in  a 
very  bad  condition,  was,  through  the  care  of  the  Secretary,  Dr.  Sou- 
beiran,  grown  in  the  garden  of  the  Medical  Faculty.  The  plant  was 
at  once  recognized  by  Baillon  as  belonging  to  a  new  species  which  was 
described  by  him  in  the  "Adansonia."1    After  the  plant  had  flowered, 
1  "Adansonia,"  x  (1868),  246.  Descriptions  appeared  in  this  journal  1872,  p.  546, 
and  1874,  p.  1 54. 
