470 
Gleanings  in  Materia  Medica. 
f  Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
X      Sept.,  1883. 
producing  upon  the  tongue  at  first  a  mild  impression  without  taste^ 
followed  by  a  slight  astringency.  It  dissolves  in  water  almost  in  all 
proportions^  is  soluble  in  aqueous  alcohol  and  ether,  but  insoluble  in 
absolute  alcohol.  Its  formula  is  CigHg^^O^Q,  and  contains  five  hydroxy! 
groups. — Chem.  Zeit.,  1883,  No.  49;  Liehig^s  Annal.,  vol.  218. 
Viola  tricolor  var.  arvensis. — Mandelin  found  in  this  plant  a  new 
coloring  matter,  vlolaquercitrin.  The  plant  is  exhausted  with  warm 
alcohol,  the  alcohol  distilled  off,  and  the  residue  treated  with  warm 
distilled  water.  On  agitating  this  dark  brown  solution  with  benzin, 
for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  the  salicylic  acid  (see  Am.  Jour.  Phar.^ 
1882,  p.  10),  a  yellow  crystalline  mass  is  precipitated.  After  washing, 
the  crystals  are  easily  soluble  in  alkalies  with  a  deep  yellow  color,  and 
reprecipitated  by  acid.  They  are  soluble  in  hot  water,  and  crystallize 
again  on  cooling.  Its  composition  is  C42II42O24.  On  being  boiled 
with  dilute  mineral  acids,  it  is  split  into  quercetin,  C2jlifi^^,  and  a 
fermentable  sugar,  CgH^gOg.  The  acid  filtrate  contains  a  third  pro- 
duct of  decomposition,  which  may  be  obtained  by  agitation  with 
chloroform,  and  is  characterized  by  its  beautiful  fluorescence  when  in 
alkaline  solution.— P/iar.  Zeit.  Russl.,  1883,  p.  329-334. 
The  Preparation  of  Cod  Oil  at  Swampscott,  Mass.,  not  far  from 
Lynn,  and  near  the  head  of  a  bay,  between  Nahant  and  Salam,  is  thus 
described  in  the  Edinburgh  Medical  Journal,  Feb.,  1883. 
It  is  a  place  called  the  "  Rocks,^^  where  in  winter  the  codfish  come 
in  shoals  to  spawn,  and  the  striped  bass  sport  themselves  in  summer. 
During  the  winter  months,  be  the  weather  w^hat  it  may,  unless  the 
wind  be  rising  for  a  gale,  a  little  after  midnight  men  may  be  seen 
going  about  the  village,  stopping  here  and  there  at  houses,  rousing 
the  fishermen,  who,  by  and  by,  gather  in  groups  about  the  shore,  each 
with  his  dory,"  that  well-known  model  of  Yankee  ingenuity  which 
at  the  great  Berlin  fishery  exhibition  excited  so  much  attention.  The 
dories  and  their  owners  are  soon  aboard  the  various  schooners  in  wait- 
ing, and  by  5  A.  M.  the  fleet  is  at  the  "Rocks;''  so  when  the  daylight 
is  sufficient,  the  dories  anchor  about  their  respective  larger  craft,  each 
boat  w^ith  its  single  occupant,  who  is  soon  hard  at  work  robbing  the 
sea  of  its  life.  About  3  P.  M.,  the  signal  is  given  from  the  schooner 
to  come  aboard ;  the  dories  hasten  to  their  floating  castles,  with  pitch- 
forks the  various  "  catches"  are  soon  thrown  aboard,  and  sail  is  made 
for  home.  During  the  passage  the  fish  are  gutted,  the  entrails  cast 
into  the  sea,  and  the  livers,  some  of  them  large  enough  to  fill  a  quart 
