Aid  .  Tour.  Pharm. 
Mar.,  1880. 
}  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals,  135 
ate,  and  when  ordering  the  salt  in  a  mixture,  invariably  wish  the  neu- 
tral salt,  which  can  be  readily  kept  unaltered  in  solution  for  such  pur- 
poses. Ammonium  valerianate  is  considered  an  excellent  stimulant 
and  anti-neuralgic  remedy,  and  is  usually  given  in  doses  of  0*2  to  0*4  to 
0"6  gram  every  two  or  three  hours. — Ibid,^  1^791  P-  465- 
Pure  Valerianic  Acid. — The  so-called  monohydrate  is  now  a  com- 
mercial article,  and  in  Hager's  opinion  should  be  made  officinal,  espe- 
cially since  the  trishydrate  of  the  market  is  rarely  pure  and  contains 
more  or  less  monohydrate.  The  pharmacopoeia  should  require  it  to  be 
tested  for  butyric  acid  and  for  amylic  alcohol.  For  butyric  acid  the 
author  uses  copper  acetate,  and  for  testing  for  valeraldehyd  he  mixes 
2  grams  of  the  acid  lirst  with  3  grams  of  caustic  ammonia,  and  then 
with  about  150  grams  of  cold  water.  After  agitating  the  mixture  well 
it  should  remain  either  entirely  clear,  or  possess  merely  a  very  slight 
opalescence. — Ibid.^  Jan.  8,  1880,  p.  13. 
Contamination  of  Benzoic  Acid  with  Corrosive  Sublimate. — 
Spoerl  purchased  benzoic  acid  from  a  well-known  chemical  laboratory, 
and  found  it  to  be  contaminated  with  a  not  i[iconsiderable  quantity  of 
corrosive  sublimate.  From  information  received  from  the  seller,  it 
appears  that  the  acid  had  been  obtained  from  England.  It  is  possible 
that  this  accidental  contamination  was  caused  by  subliming  the  acid  in 
an  apparatus  previously  used  for  corrosive  sublimate  and  not  properly 
cleaned. — Archiv  d.  Pharm. ^  Dec,  1879,  p.  517. 
Benzoic  Acid  in  the  Berries  of  Vaccinium  Vitis-idaea. — The 
cowberries  resist  fermentation  and  decomposition  for  a  long  time,  on 
which  account  Naegeli  supposed  the  presence  of  an  antiferment. 
O.  Loew  isolated  from  them  benzoic  acid  by  distilling  the  expressed 
juice  repeatedly  with  water,  neutralizing  the  slightly  acid  distillate  with 
soda,  concentrating  considerably,  and  adding  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  Ben- 
zoic acid  was  precipitated  as  a  crystalline  magma,  and  the  supernatant 
liquid  contained  a  little  formic  acid. — Ztschr.  d.  Oest.  Apoth.  Ver.^  Dec. 
20,  1879,  p.  543,  from  your.  f.  Prakt.  Chem. 
Teucrium  fruticans,  L.,  N.  O.  Labiatae,  indigenous  to  Southern 
Europe,  called  "  Olivetto "  by  the  Italian  peasants  on  account  of 
the  resemblance  of  its  leaves  to  olive  leaves,  was  subjected  to  a 
chemical  analysis  by  Oglialoro,  who  states  that  it  contains  no  volatile 
oil,  but  teucrin,  a  substance  containing  no  nitrogen,  crystallizing  in 
slender  yellow  prisms,  scarcely  soluble  in  the  ordinary  solvents  except 
in  glacial  acetic  acid,  and  transformed  by  dilute  nitric  acid  into  an  acid 
