404: 
GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
obtained  is  then  boiled  in  water,  which  dissolves  the  caffein  and 
deposits  it  on  filtering  and  concentrating  the  liquid. —  Vogel, 
Jour,  de  CI  dm.  Med. 
On  the  Wood  of  Ziziphus  Sativa, — By  M.  Latour. — The  re- 
sults of  the  investigations  of  M.  Latour  seem  to  show  that  the 
extract  of  the  wood  of  the  jujube  tree  contains  the  following 
substances,  viz:  1st,  a  crystallizable  principle,  called  ziziphic 
acid ;  2d,  ziziphotannic  acid,  unery  stall  izable  ;  3d,  salts  of  iron 
and  lime  ;  4th,  a  small  proportion  of  sugar.  The  alcoholic  ex- 
tract contains  a  coloring  principle  possessing  acid  characters, 
which  M.  Latour  calls  erythro-ziziphic  acid.  The  ethereal  ex- 
tract contains  all  three  of  the  acids  and  a  fatty  matter  of  a 
yellow  color. — Jour,  de  Pharm.,  Juin,  1858. 
New  Caustic  Pencil. — M.  Brun,  in  the  Cfaz.  Med.  de  Lyon, 
proposes  nitrate  of  silver  and  soda  fused  into  cylinders  as  a 
substitute  for  pure  lunar  caustic.  The  proportions  of  the  two 
salts  is  not  stated.  This  is  probably  about  the  same  in  fact 
as  the  adulterated  lunar  caustic  of  American  commerce.  It  is 
well  known  that  some  manufacturers  openly  prepare  to  order 
nitrate  of  silver  with  variable  proportions  of  the  nitrate  of  potassa, 
not,  however,  because  it  is  thought  better,  but  to  meet  a  demand 
for  cheap  caustic. 
Mr.  Brun  sums  up  the  advantages  of  this  salt  in  the  following 
propositions  : 
1.  It  better  fulfils  the  objects  of  the  practitioner,  where  only 
a  modification  of  the  tissues  is  desired. 
2.  Its  action  may  be  increased  or  diminished  by  varying  the 
relative  proportions  of  the  two  component  salts. 
3.  It  is  more  easily  manipulated. 
4.  In  no  case  is  its  use  attended  with  danger. 
Formula  for  the  Preparation  of  Anti-Asthmatic  Cigarettes. 
By  M.  Dannecy,  Pharmacien,  of  Bordeaux. — Some  of  the 
properties  of  stramonium  and  belladonna,  which  plants,  when 
smoked,  justly  enjoy  the  reputation  of  relieving  asthma,  and 
which  are  employed  with  the  most  undoubted  success  in  the 
treatment  of  neuralgia,  exist  also  in  plants  abounding  in  nitrates. 
