^"^Feh'/Is^^"^ }  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  9 1 
Scillain,  was  isolated  from  Urginea  scilla^  Steinh.,  by  E.  v.  Jarmer- 
sted  as  an  amorphous  white  powder.  It  is  a  glycoside  ;  does  not  con- 
tain nitrogen  ;  is  scarcely  soluble  in  water,  but  readily  soluble  in  alcohol 
yields  sugar  when  boiled  with  dilute  acid,  and  acts  sufficiently  poisonous 
in  the  dose  of  i  or  2  milligrams  to  kill  dogs  and  cats. — Ber.  d.  Deutsch. 
Chem.  Ges.^  xii,  1879,  p.  2165,  fr.  Arch,  f,  exper.  Pathol,  u.  Pharmakol. 
Emetia. — Podwissotzki  obtained  from  ipecacuanha  J  to  i  per  cent, 
of  pure  emetia,  in  fine  tabular  crystals,  on  the  slow  evaporation  of  ethe- 
rial  or  alcoholic  solution.  Emetia  is  soluble  in  about  100  parts  of  water, 
more  readily  soluble  in  ether,  chloroform  and  fats  ;  has  a  strong  alka- 
line reaction  ;  forms  salts  with  acids,  which  were  not  obtained  in 
crystals  ;  melts  at  62  to  65^0. ;  is  precipitated  from  solutions  of  its- 
salts  by  alkalies  and  alkaline  carbonates  in  an  amorphous  state,  and 
somewhat  resembles  colchicia  in  its  therapeutical  action. — IhicL  fr.  Ibid. 
Elais  guineensis. — According  to  H.  Soyaux,  the  weil-knowD 
botanist  of  the  German  Expedition  to  Southwestern  Africa  (1873— 
1876),  the  oil-palm  is  indigenous  to  all  parts  of  Western  Africa,  and 
is  the  most  attractive  specimen  of  African  vegetation.  It  is  known  to 
the  native  negroes  as  "m-ba,"  and  to  the  Portuguese  as  ^'palmeira  de 
azeite.'*  An  idea  of  its  usefulness  may  be  approximately  formed  when 
it  is  considered  that  a  tree  yields  annually  one  gallon  of  palm-oil.  Thi^ 
fat  is  orange-yellow,  a  little  softer  than  green  soap,  and  is  obtained  bv 
subjecting  the  fruit  to  a  fermentation  by  burying  it  for  about  30  days 
in  the  ground,  then  removing  the  fleshy  portion,  which  has  become 
comparatively  loose  by  this  time  from  the  hard  kernels,  melting,  remov- 
ing the  coarse  impurities,  and  cooling.  It  is  then  packed  and  sent  to 
the  European  factories,  where  the  oil  is  again  melted  in  large  kettles, 
allowed  to  settle,  and  the  pure  oil  is  decanted.  According  to  Livins:- 
stone,  the  oil  is  obtained  by  boiling  the  fruit,  contusing  in  a  mortar, 
treating  with  water,  and  separating  the  supernatant  oily  layer.  Other 
authors  state  that  the  fruit  is  contused  before  boiling.  The  seeds  of 
the  oil-palm  are  as  hard  as  horn,  have  a  grayish-blue  semi-transparenc 
color,  the  size  of  a  hazelnut,  contain  also  a  large  percentage  of  fat, 
which  is  expressed  in  Europe,  and  are  exported  from  all  ports  which 
export  palm-oil,  in  bags  woven  from  the  split  leaves  of  the  Hvphaenvi 
palm;  they  are  known  to.  the  Portuguese  as  coconotte." — Pharni.. 
Handelshl.^  Dec.  17,  1879,  p.  51. 
