GLEANINGS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS.  505 
M.  Schroff. — In  confirming  the  curious  fact  heretofore  an- 
nounced by  M.  Stahlschmidt,  (see  Jour,  de  Pharm.,  t.  xxxvii., 
p.  228,)  viz.,  the  perfect  innocuity  of  methyl  strychnia  when  in- 
troduced into  the  stomach,  M.  Schroff  has  ascertained  that  this 
base,  when  put  in  contact  with  the  blood  by  subcutaneous  in- 
jection, is  a  powerful  poison,  because  under  these  circumstances 
it  recovers  or  resumes  the  poisonous  properties  which  character- 
ize strychnia.  The  author  calls  attention  to  the  fact  that  the 
curara  arrow  poison  may  be  ingested  with  equal  freedom,  and 
queries  whether  it  is  not  of  the  same  nature  as  methyl  strychnia. 
The  experiments  were  made  on  rabbits  and  frogs,  and  the 
specimen  employed  was  the  nitrate  prepared  by  M.  cle  Vry. — 
Jour,  de  Pharm.,  235,  Sept. 
Cholestearine  in  Carrots. — MM.  Frorde  and  Sceauer  (Arch, 
der  Pharm.)  state  that  the  proximate  principles  called  carotin  and 
hydrocarotin  are  simply  cholesterin  colored  by  a  red  pigment. 
They  possess  its  crystalline  form,  its  solubility  in  different 
vehicles,  its  indifference  to  reagents,  and  its  centesimal  com- 
position. 
There  appears  to  be  no  fixed  relation  between  the  proportion 
of  these  crystals  and  that  of  starch  in  the  carrot.  This  is  not  the 
first  time  that  this  animal  principle  cholestearine  has  been  found 
in  vegetables,  (see  Jour,  de  Pharm.,  xlii.,  p.  527).  Schmidt  has 
found  7  to  8  per  cent,  of  cane  sugar  in  the  carrot,  and  the 
authors  have  recognized,  in  addition,  asparagin  and  bimalate  of 
lime. — Jour,  de  Pharm.,  Sept.,  1866. 
Preparation  of  Soluble  Prussian  Blue.  By  M.  Brucke. — 
Anatomists  and  physiologists  have  long  used  soluble  Prussian 
blue  for  injecting  their  preparations.  It  was  M.  Schrceder  von 
der  Kolk  who  first  made  this  application,  now  so  much  esteemed. 
It  is  very  important  that  the  Prussian  blue  be  soluble  in  water. 
To  obtain  it  in  this  form  it  is  necessary  to  use  a  great  excess  of 
yellow  prussiate  in  concentrated  solution ;  the  iron  should  be  in 
a  state  of  sesqui-chloride,  of  which  one-eighth  to  one-tenth  of 
the  prussiate  employed  should  be  used.  It  should  be  washed  on 
a  filter  with  water  until  it  commences  to  blue  the  washings,  when 
it  should  be  expressed  and  dried  in  the  air. 
