314 
Lithice  Oitras. 
(  Am.  Jour,  Phaim 
\      June,  1883. 
properties  of  ginger,  and  its  behavior  towards  certain  solvents  of  its 
active  constituents,  may  not  be  constant  at  all  periods,  and  the  receipt 
from  Rio  Janeiro  of  a  supply  of  green  ginger  grown  at  Santa  Catha- 
rina,  enabled  me  to  make  an  experiment  in  this  direction.  The 
ginger,  of  which  I  have  here  a  sample,  occurs  in  large  pieces;  it  is 
quite  soft,  and  is  not  decorticated.  Two  methods  were  tried  for 
removing  the  outer  portion  ;  the  one  simple  scraping,  the  other  by 
first  soaking  in  boiling  water.  The  latter  did  not  appear  to  possess 
any  special  advantage,  and  by  the  former  it  lost  fully  15  per  cent,  of 
its  weight.  After  a  few  hours'  exposure  to  the  air  it  was  weighed^ 
thoroughly  dried  and  re  weighed,  when  it  was  found  tj  have  lost  65 
per  cent,  of  moisture. 
Taking  a  sample  of  the  ginger  from  which  the  epidermis  had  been 
removed,  and  which  had  been  surface-dried  by  exposure  for  a  few 
hours  to  the  air,  I  cut  it  in  thin  slices,  and  macerated  it  for  some  days 
with  an  equal  weight  of  rectified  spirit,  which,  when  fi,ltered,  yielded 
an  essence  possessing  a  very  fine  aroma,  and  which  when  mixed  with 
water  scarcely  rendered  it  turbid  in  the  least  degree.  It  is  fairly 
strong,  and  could  doubtless  be  prepared  stronger  were  the  drying  of 
the  ginger  carried  a  little  further.  Probably,  however,  its  solubility 
would  diminish  if  the  drying  were  completed,  and  of  course  the  result 
would  cease  to  be  essence  of  green  ginger. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans. j 
April  7,  1883. 
LITHI.E  CTTRAS.i 
By  C.  Thompson. 
It  is  very  difficult  to  say  when  this  salt  was  first  used  in  medicine. 
Dr.  Ure,  in  1843,  introduced  the  carbonate  as  a  specific  for  gout^ 
pointing  out  the  remarkable  solvent  power  of  lithia  over  uric  acid 
compared  with  the  other  alkalies,  hence  its  great  use  in  cases  of  gout. 
The  urate  of  sodium  with  which  gouty  patients  all  seem  charged,  is 
converted  into  the  more  soluble  lithia  salt,  and  so  washed  out  of  the 
system. 
In  1857,  Drs.  Garrod  and  Ringer  mention  using  strong  lotions  of 
lithia  salts  to  disperse  gouty  swellings.  Lithium  citrate  was  not  offi- 
cially recognized  until  1864,  when  it  appeared  in  the  new  British 
Pharmacopoeia  of  that  date.    It  appeared  in  the  United  States  Phar- 
1  Read  before  the  Chemists'  Assistants'  Association,  February  21st,  188S. 
