ADMJa°rUch^9oi!'m'}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  147 
THE  ETHER  TEST  FOR  SCAMMONY. 
Of  two  consignments  of  the  same  scammony  sent  from  Beyrouth 
in  Syria — one  to  Germany,  the  other  to  France — the  former  was  re- 
turned as  not  standing  the  ether  solubility  test  of  the  pharma- 
copoeia, while  the  French  specimen  was  found  perfectly  satisfactory. 
This  led  P.  Guigues  de  Ch.  et  Ph.,  1900,  529)  to  investigate,  and 
he  found  the  cause  of  the  contradictory  reports  in  the  variable 
quality  of  commercial  ether  ;  even  that  labelled  "pure."  He  finds 
many  of  the  most  reliable  ethers  contain  water,  even  to  160  per 
cent.,  and  the  slightest  trace  renders  scammony  insoluble.  Most 
contain  alcohol,  which  renders  the  resin  easily  soluble  even  when 
water  is  present  in  the  solvent.  Another  curious  point  is  that  in 
some  cases  the  resin  dissolves  freely  in  a  certain  quantity  of  ether 
and  precipitates  when  excess  of  the  solvent  is  added.  From  these 
several  facts  the  writer  concluded  that  the  test  should  be  carefully 
studied  and  revised,  with  special  reference  to  quality  and  quantity 
of  the  ether  employed.  H.  V.  A. 
PHENYLHYDRAZINE  REACTION  FOR  URINE. 
The  difficulties  of  above  test,  which  is  most  valuable  for  detect- 
ing minute  quantities  of  urine,  can  be  obviated  as  follows:  Put  in 
ordinary  test-tube  equal  amounts  (about  size  of  a  pea)  of  phenyl- 
hydrazin,  HQ,  and  crystallized  sodium  acetate.  Fill  tube  with  the 
urine  and  cork,  not  allowing  finger  to  come  in  contact  with  the 
phenylhydrazin,  which  is  a  dangerous  poison  to  the  blood.  Shake 
the  mixture  till  the  salts  are  dissolved,  then  remove  stopper,  place 
tube  in  boiling  water,  immediately  removing  flame.  Allow  the  test- 
tube  to  remain  in  the  water  till  completely  cold,  preferably  over 
night ;  then  remove  precipitate  with  pipette  and  examine  micro- 
scopically. The  crystals  rarely  appear  as  striking  as  pictured  in  the 
books,  but  the  presence  of  sugar  can  be  safely  established  if  the 
precipitate  is  intensely  yellow  and  crystalline.  By  this  means  001 
per  cent,  sugar  can  be  detected.  Practice  is  essential  to  diagnosis, 
hence  the  beginner  is  urged  to  first  experiment  with  urine  to  which 
glucose  has  been  added.— Dr.  F.  Eschbaum,  Schw.  Woch.  f.  Ch. 
und  Ph  ,  1900,  214.  H.  V.  A. 
