Am De°cutr'i8>76arm' }  Gleanings  from  the  Foreign  Journals.  539 
nitrate  from  the  last  precipitate  deposits  the  oliverin  on  slow  evapora- 
tion. After  washing  with  cold  water  it  forms  yellow  granules,  which 
are  slightly  odorous  and  very  bitter.  Dr.  Fabry  reports  remarkable 
cures  with  this  substance,  which  is  given  in  the  dose  of  o'io  to  0*30 
grams  four  or  five  times  a  day  ;  the  author  requests  physicians  to  try 
it  in  all  cases  where  quinia  is  indicated. — Ibid.,  558. 
Veratria. — Ernst  Schmidt  and  R.  Koppen  have  again  examined  this 
alkaloid  as  prepared  by  themselves  from  sabadilla,and  from  commercial 
alkaloid,  and  obtained  results  which  in  the  main  agree  with  those 
originally  obtained  by  Merck  (uAmer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1856,  p.  134), 
except  that  they  find  its  formula  to  be  C32H50NO9  (O— 16).  They 
also  found  Weigelin's  observation  (187 1)  correct  regarding  the  existence 
of  a  veratria,  which  is  soluble  in  water  and  may  be  obtained  by  precipi- 
tating a  veratria  salt  by  ammonia  in  the  cold  and  washing  it  with  cold 
water  in  which  it  gradually  dissolves,  but  is  reprecipitated  by  heat.  On 
evaporating  the  solution  in  vacuo,  a  yellowish  amorphous  mass  is 
obtained,  which  is  again  readily  soluble  in  water  and  has  the  .compo- 
sition of  the  crystalline  modification.  The  resinous  mass,  which  is 
dissolved  from  the  crude  veratria  by  cold  dilute  alcohol,  is  another 
modification  of  the  same  alkaloid,  differing  from  the  first  by  not  being 
crystalline,  and  from  the  second  by  the  sparing  solubility  in  water  ;  the 
first  and  the  last  are  gradually  converted  into  the  second  modification 
by  precipitating  them  in  the  cold  and  prolonged  washing  with  cold 
water. 
The  authors  have  also  examined  samples  of  commercial  veratria  from 
six  manufacturers,  and  found  them  pure  and  free  from  sabadillia  and 
sabatrina,  which  are  rather  freely  soluble  in  water  ;  they  dissolved  com- 
pletely in  ether,  in  which  sabadillia  is  insoluble. — Ber.  d.  deut.  Chem. 
Ges.,  1876,  1115-1221. 
The  bark  of  Erythropheum  guineense,  the  mancone  of  the  Portuguese, 
contains  an  alkaloid,  which  was  obtained  in  a  crystalline  state  by  E. 
Hardy  and  N.  Gallois  by  exhausting  the  bark  with  alcohol  acidulated 
with  muriatic  acid,  evaporating,  dissolving  in  water  and  decomposing 
by  ammonia  in  the  presence  of  acetic  ether.  The  erythrophein  is  crys- 
talline, sparingly  soluble  in  ether  and  chloroform,  but  readily  in  acetic 
ether.  Physiologically,  it  acts  as  a  muscular  poison,  acting  primarily 
upon  the  heart,  arresting  its  action  in  systole.  The  bark  of  E.  cuminga 
contains  an  alkaloid  having  a  similar  physiological  action.  —  Chem. 
CentralbL,  No.  40,  from  Bull.  Soc.  Chim. 
