348 
Sium  Latifolium. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Aug.,  1876. 
To  ascertain  the  power  of  salicylic  and  benzoic  acids  to  arrest 
decomposition,  they  were  each  added  in  proportion  of  one  part  to  2000 
of  separate  portions  of  cider  which  had  commenced  to  ferment.  In 
both  cases  the  fermentation,  after  twenty-four  hours,  had  entirely 
ceased,  and  both  were  perfectly  sweet  at  the  end  of  fifty  days,  without 
the  appearance  of  any  further  decomposition,  a  rather  copious  precipi- 
tate having  separated  at  the  bottom  of  each. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  the  infusions  in  the  above  experiments> 
without  the  addition  of  an  antiseptic,  would  have  commenced  to  decom- 
pose in  about  twenty-four  hours,  and  the  solution  of  albumen  in  about 
forty-eight  hours.  In  all  cases  the  operations  were  conducted  in  a 
moderately  warm  place,  so  as  to  favor  a  change  as  rapidly  as  possible. 
Having  carefully  compared  the  above  experiments  and  their  results, 
the  following  conclusions  are  submitted  : 
1.  That  benzoic  acid,  sublimed  or  artificial,  possesses  valuable  anti- 
septic properties. 
2.  It  has  the  power  to  arrest  decomposition. 
3.  Tannic  acid  (of  buchu  ?)  does  not  interfere  with  its  preservative 
properties. 
4.  As  an  antiseptic,  it  is  superior,  in  many,  if  not  in  all  cases,  to 
salicylic  acid.  It  also  has  the  advantages  of  being  more  readily  ob- 
tained in  a  state  of  purity,  of  being  more  soluble,  and  having  a  lower 
commercial  value. 
SIUM  LATIFOLIUM,  GRAY. 
BY  ANDREW  R.  PORTER,  PH.G. 
{Abstract  from  an  Inaugural  Essay.) 
An  umbelliferous  plant,  growing  in  California  and  along  the  Pacific 
coast,  in  damp  and  marshy  places,  commonly  known  as  wild  parsnip, 
was  brought  to  the  notice  of  the  people  there  about  three  years  ago,  by 
a  man  being  poisoned  by  eating  some  of  the  root.  The  case  was 
treated  successfully  by  C.  B.  White,  M.  D.,  U.  S.  A.  (see  "  Amer. 
Jour.  Phar.,"  1873,  P-  371)- 
The  root  was  subsequently  sent  to  a  former  student  of  this  College, 
Mr.  Power,  but  arriving  too  late  to  be  investigated  during  that  session 
by  him,  was  placed  in  the  hands  of  Prof.  Maisch,  who  very  kindly  gave 
it  to  me  to  investigate,  and  to  obtain,  if  possible,  the  poisonous  prin- 
ciple. 
