422 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I    August,  1883. 
The  flowers  are  axillary,  in  whorled  spikes,  quite  small,  somewhat 
imbedded  in  the  axis,  three  cleft,  the  pistillate  ones  in  two  or  three 
whorls,  with  a  hypogynous  one-celled  ovary  and  a  two-lobed  stigma; 
the  staminate  flowers  longer  and  denser  with  three  stamens  united  to 
the  base  of  the  perianth. — Phar.  Centralhalle,  1883,  No.  14. 
mdnus  communis  as  an  insecticide. — Mr.  RafPord,  a  member  of  the 
Society  d'Horticulture  at  Limoges,  has  observed  that  flies  disappear 
from  a  room  in  which  a  castor  oil  plant  has  been  placed,  the  flies  either 
being  found  dead  under  the  plant,  or  their  bodies  clinging  to  the  under 
surface  of  the  leaves.  It  would,  therefore,  appear  that  these  leaves 
exhale  a  principle,  possessing  strong  insecticide  qualities. — Brit.  Med. 
Jour. 
Geum  album  is  regarded  by  Dr.  W.  A.  Spurgeon  as  a  valuable  anti- 
emetic, relieving  gastric  irritation  and  headache.  He  uses  it  in  the 
form  of  a  tincture,  made  with  8  troyounces  of  the  plant  to  the  pint ; 
the  dose  is  a  teaspoonful  or  more. —  Virg.  Med.  Monthly. 
Agaricus  albus. — E.  Jahns  has  again  examined  this  fungus,  and 
compared  his  results  with  those  obtained  by  previous  investigators. 
It  was  exhausted  with  hot  90  per  cent,  alcohol,  the  tincture  concen- 
trated to  the  weight  of  the  drug  and  cooled,  when  agaric  acid  separated 
in  indistinct  crystals  mixed  with  white  resins,  the  red  bitter  resin 
remaining  in  solution.  The  precipitate  was  collected,  pressed,  mixed 
with  10  times  its  weight  of  60  per  cent,  alcohol,  warmed  in  the  water 
bath  until  the  crystals  were  dissolved,  and  filtered  while  hot ;  the  solu- 
tion Avas  evaporated,  the  residue  repeatedly  recrystallized  from  abso- 
lute alcohol,  to  separate  the  resin,  until  it  was  perfectly  soluble  in 
water.  A  little  lime  and  magnesia  was  removed  by  recrystallization 
in  presence  of  hydrochloric  acid,  and  an  amorphous  body  was  separated 
by  dissolving  in  hot  30  per  ct.  alcohol  and  cooling  to  50°C.,  when  pure 
agaric  acid  crystallized  in  delicate  silvery  plates.  It  crystallizes  from 
alcohol  in  groups  of  prisms,  is  inodorous  and  tasteless,  melts  at  138° 
to  139°C.,  requires  at  15°C.  126  p.  of  90  per  cent,  alcohol  for  solu- 
tion, is  readily  soluble  in  warm  alcohol,  glacial  acetic  acid  and  oil  of 
turpentine,  less  soluble  in  ether,  and  nearly  insoluble  in  chloroform, 
benzol  and  cold  water.  In  boiling  water  it  swells  to  a  jelly-like  mass, 
and  dissolves  finally  to  a  strongly  acid,  somewhat  ropy  liquid.  Its 
composition  is  C16II30O5.II2O,  the  water  being  partly  given  ofl"  over 
sulphuric  acid,  and  entirely  at  100°C.  It  is  a  bibasic  triatomic  acid, 
and  homologous  with  malic  acid.    Its  neutral  alkali  salts  are  easily 
