510  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  {AmNo0vU%87h6arin' 
of  sugar,  io  of  orange  flower  water  and  160  of  distilled  water.  This 
potion  is  to  be  followed  by  a  purgative. — V  Union  Phar.,  June. 
Bowdichia  major,  Mart.,  is  a  large  tree  of  Brazil,  where  it  is  known 
under  the  names  of  sicopira,  sebipira,  subupira,  etc.  An  exudation 
appears  in  the  spring,  and  hardens  to  pieces  resembling  Senega  gum. 
This  sicopira  gum  was  described  by  Peckolt  in  1862,  and  contains  be- 
sides 14  per  cent,  of  moisture,  4  resin,  3  tannin,  31  gum  and  44  of  a 
bassorin-like  substance.    It  is  used  in  diarrhoea. 
The  soluble  constituents  of  the  wood  are  tannin,  gum  and  resin. 
The  trunk-bark  contains  much  tannin  and  some  of  the  constituents 
found  in  the  root-bark.  It  was  formerly  employed  medicinally,  but 
has  fallen  into  disuse,  while  the  more  active  bark  of  the  root,  intro- 
duced by  Dr.  J.  A.  Vieira  de  Mattos,  is  successfully  employed  in 
Brazil  in  various  skin  diseases  ;  it  is  given  in  the  form  of  alcoholic 
extract,  in  doses  of  0*15  gram,  3  to  6  times  daily,  and  as  alcoholic 
tincture  (1  bark  to  4  alcohol),  by  mixing  30  grams  with  300  grams  of 
syrup,  in  tablespoonful  doses,  repeated  thrice  daily. 
Th.  Peckolt,  of  Rio,  describes  the  root-bark  as  either  red-brown 
(sicopira  vermelha)  or  flesh-colored  (sic.  branca),  the  latter  coming 
chiefly  from  the  Campos  region,  district  of  Serro,  province  of  Minas 
Geraes.  The  latter  is  very  difficult  to  obtain,  but  is  preferred  for 
medicinal  use. 
On  treating  the  red-brown  etherial  extract  of  the  bark  with  cold 
alcohol  of  320,  a  fine  crystalline  mass  of  sicopirin  is  left  behind,  which 
has  a  bitter  somewhat  biting  taste,  is  soluble  in  ether  and  boiling  alco- 
hol, but  almost  insoluble  in  water  ;  when  treated  with  diluted  sulphuric 
acid  it  yields  glucose.  Prof.  Geuther  found  its  elementary  composi- 
tion to  be  C16H12Os. 
The  fresh  root-bark  from  the  province  of  Rio  de  Janeiro  yields  only 
0*019  per  cent,  of  sicopirin.  Peckolt  found  also  9*1  per  cent,  of  bit- 
ter principle  and  extractive,  soluble  in  alcohol  and  water,  8*88  per  cent, 
of  resins  and  smaller  quantities  of  gum,  starch,  tannin  and  albumen. 
The  bark  from  the  Campos  region  contains  more  sicopirin,  and  if 
this  should  prove  to  be  the  active  principle,  would  obviously  be  more 
active  than  the  red-brown  bark. — Zeitschr.  Oest.  Ap.  Ver.,  No.  19. 
The  therapeutic  value  of  the  crystalline  principles  of  aloes  has  been  the 
subject  of  investigation,  by  Nelson  C.  Dobson  and  Wm.  A.  Tilden, 
who  arrived  at  the  following  results : 
