Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. 
April,  1883. 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
197 
The  leaves  of  Anclroraeda  niariaiia,  Lin.,  known  as  stagger-bush,  of 
Kalmia  angustifolia,  Lin.,  known  as  lamb-kill,  and  of  several  allied 
American  species,  are  reported  to  be  poisonous,  and  may  contain  a 
principle  identical  with  or  allied  to  the  foregoing. 
Analysis  of  Cinchona  leaves. — Emil  Happersberger  has  determined 
the  amount  of  alkaloids  contained  in  the  leaves  of  four  species  of  cin- 
chona grown  in  the  University  grounds  at  Berkeley,  Cal.,  which  is 
declared  to  be  a  most  unfavorable  locality  for  the  cultivation  of  the 
plant.    The  results  were  as  follows  : 
Cinchona  Calisaya. 
Entire  leaf. 
Process. 
Lamina 
wi  til  out 
midrib. 
Entireleaf. 
Midrib. 
C.  succi ru- 
bra. 
C.  officinalis 
Hybrid. 
Br.  Phar. 
•70 
2^0 
3-2 
I'O 
•50 
•75 
Muter's. 
•76 
2^0 
4-0 
.  1'8 
•66 
•70  . 
The  alkaloids  of  calisaya  leaves  were  separated,  and  consisted  of 
quinine,  quinidine,  cinchonine,  and  cinchonidine,  of  which  quinidine 
comprised  about  one-half  of  the  whole.  If  these  leaves  are  a  fair  rep- 
resentation of  cinchona  leaves  generally  they  must  possess  considerable 
medicinal  value. — Proc.  Cal.  Coll.  Phar.,  1883,  p.  53. 
Oil  of  Gaultheria. — Wm.  P.  Underbill  has  distilled  this  oil  since 
1874,  and  gives  the  average  yield  as  10  pounds  from  a  ton  of  the 
leaves,  the  highest  yield  being  14,  and  the  lowest  9  pounds  of  oil. 
The  larger  yield  is  obtained  when  the  season  is  dry.  The  cost  of  the 
leaves  delivered  at  the  mill  is  IJ  cents  per  pound,  and  it  is  very  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  leaves  at  that  price.  Since  it  will  require  about  200 
pounds  of  leaves  to  make  one  pound  of  oil,  the  cost  of  the  latter  is 
|3.00  for  the  leaves  alone.  The  author  does  not  believe  that  the  large 
sleazy  leaves  of  New  Jersey  yield  more  oil  than  the  stiff,  hard,  and 
brittle  leaves  of  New  Hampshire. — P7'oc.  N.  H.  Phar.  Assoc.,  1882,  p.  34. 
Blue  volatile  oils. — On  the  fractional  distillation  of  the  volatile  oils 
of  German  chamomile,  wormwood  and  yarrow,  Carl  Hock  obtained 
the  first  fractions  colorless ;  those  obtained  above  150°  C.  were  greenish, 
or  blue-green,  and  those  passing  over  at  and  above  260°  C.  were 
intensely  blue.  A  considerable  quantity  of  blue  distillate  was  also 
obtained  from  the  oil  of  elecampane.  It  is  known  that  on  the  dry  dis- 
tillation of  galbanum,  a  blue  oil  is  produced.    A.  Kachler  (1876), 
