^'"Ma°y,'^i8'75^'^"""}     Gkanings from  EuTopeau  Joumals.  in 
nitia  to  its  having  been  dried  at  an  elevated  temperature.  If  dried  at 
the  temperature  of  a  water-bath,  it  contains  no  water  and  is  then  not  com- 
pletely soluble  in  50  parts  of  boiling 'water.  Dried  at  a  lower  temper- 
ature it  may  contain  20  per  cent,  of  water  without  being  moist  5  and 
this  is  the  article  officinal  in  the  German  (and  U.  S.)  Pharmacopoeia. 
Phar.  Cent.  Halle^  1874,  No.  51. 
To  Preserve  the  Bright  Metallic  Surface  of  Sodium, — R.  Bottger  re- 
commends to  immerse  the  sodium  in  alcohol  until  its  surface  has  ac- 
quired a  bright  metallic  lustre  ;  it  is  then  rapidly  transferred  to  another 
dish  containing  pure  petroleum  benzin,  and  from  this  into  a  solution  of 
chemically  pure  naphthalin  in  petroleum  benzin,  in  which  it  will  keep 
unaltered. — Ihid,^  1875,  No.  7. 
To  Extinguish  the  Flame  of  Burning  Petroleum. — C.  Ommeganck  found 
chloroform  to  be  well  adapted,  one-twentieth  and  even  one-sixtieth  of 
the  volume  of  the  burning  petroleum  being  sufficient  for  the  purpose, 
and  the  effect  being  almost  instantaneous.  If  petroleum  is  mixed  with 
one-fifth  its  volume  of  chloroform,  it  is  not  inflammable  by  ordinary 
means.  The  author  believes  that  petroleum  fires  may  thus  be  readily 
extinguished  in  the  beginning,  and  suggests  that  ships,  &c.,  loaded  with 
this  article,  should  also  carry  a  certain  quantity  of  chloroform  for  the 
purpose  indicated. — Jour,  de  Phar.  d'Jnvers^  March,  1874. 
Bile  and  Sulphuric  Acid  as  a  Test  for  Glucosides. — H.  Brunner's  sugges- 
tion [see  "Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1875,  p.  15.)  to  use  Pettenkofer's  bile 
reaction  as  a  test  for  digitalin,  has  induced  E.  Almquist  to  institute  a 
series  of  experiments,  in  which  he  found  that  lactic,  oxalic  and  tartaric 
acids,  inosit  and  all  the  alkaloids  that  were  at  his  disposal,  gave  negative 
results  ;  but  the  reaction  was  obtained  not  only  with  sugar  and  gluco- 
sides, but  also  with  dextrin,  starch,  inulin,  paper,  linen  fibres,  fragments 
of  wood,  &c.;  also,  with  a  single  drop  of  beer.  Brunner's  reaction  is, 
therefore,  unreliable,  unless  applied  to  the  pure  glucoside,  and  in  that 
case  unnecessary. — Archiv  d.  Phar.^  Dec,  1874,  p.  515.  , 
Artificial  vanillin  {see  "Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1874,  p.  331)  is  now 
prepared  on  a  large  scale  by  Dr.  Haarmann  from  the  cambium  sap  of 
pines.  It  is  not  made  pure,  but  sold  in  the  form  of  an  extract,  or,  rather, 
of  an  alcoholic  tincture,  which  contains  2  per  cent.,  the  average  amount 
found  in  vanilla.  The  odor  of  pure  undiluted  vanillin  is  not  entirely 
identical  with  that  of  vanilla  ;  but  in  its  diluted  state,  and  particularly 
when  used  as  a  flavor,  its  odor  is  not  distinguishable  from  vanilla.  The 
