A  AuJg°,S  ^92airm'  \    Medical  and  Pharmaceutical  Notes.  57.1 
per  cent,  of  the  original  volume.  This  treatment  was  sufficient  to 
convert  all  the  hyoscyamine  present  into  atropine.  The  solution  was 
then  rendered  ammoniacal,  the  solution  neutralized  with  sulphuric 
acid,  evaporated  to  a  syrup,  and  the  latter  while  hot  treated  with 
acetone  until  precipitation  almost  commenced ;  on  cooling  atropine 
sulphate  crystallized  out.— Rhodehanel  and  Stuart,  Journ.  Ind.  and 
Eng.  Chem.,  1921,  13,  218-220. 
Resistance  of  Aconitine  to  Putrefaction. — A  rat  was  killed 
by  the  subcutaneous  injection  of  2  mgms.  of  aconitine.  The  carcase 
was  left  to  putrefy  for  several,  days  in  the  air,  then  enclosed  in  a 
metal  box,  and  buried  for  two  months.  The  pulped  viscera  were 
then  extracted  with  absolute  alcohol,  acidified  with  10  per  cent,  of 
tartaric  acid,  and  kept  at  6o°  for  fifteen  minutes.  The  cooled  liquid 
was  filtered  and  distilled  in  vacuo.  This  extraction  was  twice  re- 
peated. The  final  residual  extract  was . dissolved  in  water  and. fil- 
tered. It  was  then  shaken  out  with  ether  while  still  acid.  The  ether 
was  removed,  and  the  aqueous  portion  was  rendered  faintly  alkaline 
with  sodium  bicarbonate,  and  again  shaken  out  with  ether  and  with 
chloroform.  The  last  extract  was  evaporated,  and  the  residue  dis- 
solved in  10  per  cent,  acetic  acid.  This  solution  gave  positive  reac- 
tions with  Mayer's  and  Nonti's  reagents,  had  the  characteristic 
numbing  action  on  the  tongue,  and  gave  a  violet  color  with  a  4  per 
cent,  solution  of  sodium  phosphate  in  molybdic  acid.  No  reaction 
for  ptomaine  was  obtained  by  Brouardel  and  Boutmy's  test.  It  is 
therefore  concluded  that  aconitine  is  not  destroyed  by  flood  fer- 
ments ;  that  it  resists  putrefaction  for  two  months ;  that  weak  acids 
and  alkalies  should  be  used  for  its  extraction;  that  it  can  then  be 
characterized  by  the  organoleptic  test  and  by  the  phosphomolybdic 
color  reaction.  It  is  stated  that  crystalline  aconitine  gives  no  violet 
reaction  with  ordinary  phosphoric  acid,  either  hot  or  cold. — Austra. 
Journ.  of  Pharm.,  April,  192 1. 
Selected  From  an  Article  on  Dispensing  in  the  Pharmaceu- 
tical Journal  and  Pharmacist,  March,  192 i,  by  A.  B. 
Gilmour. 
a.  b.  c.  liniment. 
With  regard  to  A.  B.  C.  Liniment,  chemists  frequentlv  note  on 
the  prescription  that  for  Lin.  A.  B.  C.  they  have  dispensed  the  British 
