142        Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.     {AB£h; fgou™" 
one  outer  edge  to  the  other,  a  drop  of  water  weighed  01  gramme  ; 
a  drop  of  alcohol,  specific  gravity  0-831,  weighed  0033  gramme; 
one  drop  of  ether  weighed  0-0238  ;  one  drop  of  chloroform  weighed 
00376  gramme.  H.  V.  A. 
KOLA  NUT. 
At  a  recent  meeting  of  the  German  Pharmaceutical  Society,  the 
kola  tree  and  its  fruit  were  discussed  from  two  standpoints  by  K. 
Schumann  and  by  L.  Bernegan.  From  the  mass  of  detail  the  fol- 
lowing facts  were  gleaned  : 
The  fruit  of  kola  weigh  as  much  as  2  kilos,  and  since  a  large 
number  of  fruits  are  produced  by  one  tree,  its  branches  would  be 
subjected  to  much  pressure  were  it  not  for  a  provision  of  nature, 
namely,  from  the  trunk  spring  many  of  the  flowers  (Cauliflorie),  thus 
throwing  much  of  the  burden  on  the  sturdy  trunk.  The  flowers  are 
of  two  kinds,  in  both  of  which  the  petals  are  missing,  the  calyx  as- 
suming a  pink  color  which  attracts  fertilizing  insects.  The  flowers 
are  very  odorous  (vanillin-like),  while  the  fruit  smells  like  the  Mare- 
chal  Neil  rose.  Within  the  pulpy  fruit  four  to  eight  seeds  or  nuts 
are  found.  These  nuts  are  used  by  native  Africans  only  when  fresh, 
and  large  quantities  are  sent  to  the  Brazilian  negroes,  who  likewise 
insist  on  receiving  undried  nuts.  Accordingly,  they  are  exported  to 
Brazil  carefully  packed  in  leaves  of  Cola  cordifolia,  and  by  this 
means  the  seeds  can  be  kept  four  weeks.  The  price  of  the  nuts 
ascends  in  proportion  to  distance  from  place  of  collection ;  for  in- 
stance, at  place  of  collection  in  Ashanti,  2,000  nuts  cost  6 
marks  ;  in  Salaga  they  cost  30  marks,  while  in  Bahia,  Brazil,  the 
same  quantity  costs  400  to  600  marks. 
The  tree  grows  sometimes  15  metres  high,  begins  bearing  fruit 
in  its  eighth  year,  and  bears  fifty  years.  The  wood  of  the  branches 
is  used  by  the  negroes  for  cleaning  teeth,  while  a  decoction  of  young 
branches  is  used  as  a  gargle  by  the  negro  children. — Ber.  Dtsch.  Ph. 
Ges.y  1900,  67.  H.  V.  A. 
PURIFICATION  OF  WATER. 
Water  can  be  freed  of  bacteria  by  means  of  minute  quantities  of 
the  halogen  elements,  and  a  study  of  this  is  reported  by  F.  Malme- 
jac  (J.  Ph.  et  Ch  ,  1900,  364).  To  successive  quantities  of  very  im- 
pure water,  chlorine,  bromine  and  iodine  were  added,  each  in  pro- 
portion of  o-i  milligramme  to  the  litre.    The  reagent  was  allowed 
