Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
August,  1883,  J 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica, 
423 
soluble  in  water  and  precipitated  by  alcohol  in  an  amorphous  condi- 
tion, the  sodium  salt  hardening  to  a  radiating  crystalline  mass ;  the 
other  salts  are  amorphous.  The  acid  salts  are  little  soluble  in  water, 
and  with  difficulty  obtained  pure.  When  boiled  with  nitric  acid,  aga- 
ric acid  yields  succinic  acid  and  volatile  fatty  acids,  among  which  buty- 
ric acid  seems  to  predominate. 
The  white  resins  could  be  separated  by  treatment  with  boiling  abso- 
lute alcohol  into  white  needles  and  an  amorphous  body,  the  latter  being 
freely  soluble  in  strong  alcohol. 
The  results  are  summarized  thus :  Hot  alcohol  dissolves  from  white 
agaric — 
1.  16  to  18  per  cent,  of  agaric  acid,  so  named  by  Fleury  (1870), 
and  identical  with  the  laricin  of  Martins  (1845),  in  the  main  also  with 
the  agaricin  of  Schoonbroodt  (1863),  and  possibly  with  the  pseudo- 
wax  of  Trommsdorff;  it  forms  a  part  of  the  white  resin  of  Masing 
insoluble  in  chloroform  (see  "Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1875,  p.  208). 
2.  3  to  5  per  cent,  of  an  indifferent  body  crystallizing  in  needles, 
fusible  at  271°  to  272°C.  and  sublimable;  it  forms  part  of  Masing's 
w^hite  resin  alluded  to.  , 
3.  3  to  4  per  cent,  of  an  amorphous  white  body  separating  from 
its  solutions  in  form  of  a  jelly,  and  identical  with  Masing's  white 
resin  soluble  in  chloroform. 
4.  25  to  30  per  cent,  of  an  amorphous  red  resin-like  mixture, 
having  an  acid  reaction,  a  bitter  taste,  a  purgative  action,  and  easily 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  ether. — Archiv  d.  Fhar.^  April,  1883,  pp.  260 
—271. 
Cantharides  contain,  according  to  Eng.  Dietrich,  notable  quantities 
of  formic  acid.  This  acid  is  the  best  solvent  for  cantharidin,  the 
solubility  increasing  with  the  strength  of  the  acid.  Cantharidin  dis- 
solved in  diluted  formic  acid,  may  be  distilled. — Phar.  Post,  1883, 
No.  18. 
Composition  of  bones  and  hone  ash. — Wildt  has  shown  (Landw. 
Versuchsstat.  xv.  p.  404),  that  bone  ash  contains  less  carbonic  acid 
than  the  bone  from  which  it  is  prepared,  and  since  caustic  lime  is  not 
formed  he  attributes  this  to  the  reaction  between  dicalcium  phosphate 
and  calcium  carbonate,  resulting  in  the  formation  of  normal  calcium 
phosphate  and  the  liberation  of  carbonic  acid  and  water. 
H.  Weiske  shows  that  bone  ash  contains  sulphate,  which  is  not 
found  in  bones,  and  must  therefore  be  produced  from  the  organic  con- 
