106 
PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS. 
matic  and  somewhat  herbaceous  odor,  suggesting  that  of  the 
bruised  plant,  and  a  bitterish,  pungent,  disagreeable  taste  ;  its 
consistence  is  much  more  viscid  than  the  oil  of  E.  Canadense, 
and  its  taste  much  more  decided.  Its  specific  gravity,  ascertained 
by  carefully  weighing  a  buck-shot  whilst  suspended  in  the  oil, 
with  a  delicate  balance,  is  .946,  whilst  that  of  the  E.  Canadense 
is  .845  to  .850.  It  is  evidently  more  oxygenized  than  the  last 
named,  as  potassium  rapidly  decomposes  it,  and  it  is  probably 
much  more  soluble  in  water. 
It  is  evidently  a  different  oil  from  the  commercial  oil  of  Eri- 
geron.  The  fact  of  E.  Philadelphicum  not  being  productive  in 
oil  has  been  noticed  by  others.  In  the  Eclectic  Dispensatory 
(page  452)  it  is  stated  that  this  plant  "  yields  on  distillation  a 
pale  yellow  acid  styptic  volatile  oil,  resembling  that  of  E.  Cana- 
dense." This  is  either  a  mistake,  or  the  difference  in  the  results 
must  have  arisen  from  distilling  the  oil  there  described  from  the 
plants  freshly  gathered,  which  may  occasion  the  difference,  espe- 
cially as  the  flowers  in  which  the  oil  chiefly  reside  are,  like  most 
of  the  composites,  favorable  to  the  dissipation  of  the  oil. 
GLEANINGS — CHEMICAL,  PHARMACEUTICAL  AND  MEDICAL. 
Manufacture  of  Alcohol  from  Wood. — M.  J.  Nickles,  in  his 
correspondence  in  Silliman's  Journal  for  January,  remarks  that 
the  increased  price  of  wine,  occasioned  by  the  grape  disease,  and 
the  partial  prohibition  of  the  use  of  cereal  grains,  has  directed  the 
attention  of  manufacturers  of  alcohol  to  other  sources,  and  beet 
juice,  Indian  corn,  couch  grass,  and  asphodel  have  been  employed 
experimentally.  Recently,  M.  Arnoult  has  sought  the  sugar 
derived  from  wood  by  the  action  of  sulphuric  acid,  as  a  source  of 
alcohol.  He  has  succeeded  in  obtaining  70  to  80  per  cent,  of 
sugar  from  poplar  wood.  The  wood  is  reduced  to  coarse  saw-dust, 
dried  at  212°  F.,  and  after  cooling  it  is  moistened  with  sulphuric 
acid  by  gradual  additions,  so  that  the  mass  shall  not  become 
heated,  until  110  parts  have  been  added  for  each  100  parts  of 
dried  wood.  After  reposing  twelve  hours,  the  apparently  dry 
mass  is  triturated  until  it  becomes  quite  liquid.  This  is  diluted 
with  water,  boiled,  the  acid  saturated  with  chalk,  and  the  liquor 
