46 
ON  CHLOROPHYLL. 
the  taste  is  acrid  and  biting,  and  increases  in  strength  after  being 
held  in  the  mouth. 
Chemical  Characters. — Apiol  is  soluble  in  alcohol  of  from  50° 
to  90°,  in  ether  and  in  chloroform  in  every  proportion.  It  yields 
nothing  to  boiling  water.  Potassium  when  thrown  into  apiol 
throws  off  rapidly  a  multitude  of  little  gaseous  bubbles,  which 
would  lead  us  to  suppose  that  this  substance  was  not  as  it  has 
been  supposed,  a  carburet  of  hydrogen,  but  that  oxygen  entered 
into  its  composition. 
Physiological  Action. — Apiol,  in  doses  of  from  seven  to  fifteen 
grains,  produces  a  cerebral  excitement,  very  similar  to  that 
caused  by  coffee.  One  feels  a  sensation  of  vigor  and  composure, 
with  a  momentary  warmth  about  the  stomach.  Persons  who 
have  taken  it  in  these  doses,  complain  neither  of  thirst,  or  pain 
in  the  stomach,  nausea,  vomiting,  colic  or  diarrhoea.  When  the 
dose  is  larger,  from  thirty  to  sixty  grains,  we  observe  all  the 
phenomena  of  an  intoxication ;  flashes  of  light ;  giddiness, 
stumbling,  vertigo  and  ringing  in  the  ears,  &c,  &c.  These  are 
the  effects  produced  by  a  large  dose  of  the  sulphate  of  quinine. 
The  apiolic  intoxication  is  precisely  similar  to  the  quinine  intoxi- 
cation, and  this  is  the  most  remarkable  point  of  resemblance 
between  these  two  bodies.  It  is  only  in  exceptional  cases  that 
borborygmu3  or  colic  has  resulted  from  its  use. —  Virginia  Med,, 
and  Surg.  Jour*  Nov.  1855,  from  Annuaire  de  Therapeutique* 
ON  CHLOROPHYLL. 
By  Prof.  Mohl. 
An  article  on  the  Botanische  Zeitung,  for  February  last,  is 
reproduced  by  Henfrey,  in  an  English  translation,  in  Ann.  and 
Mag.  Nat.  Hist,  for  May  and  June,  1855.  With  the  thoroughness 
which  characterizes  Prof.  Mohl's  researches,  he  first  combats,  appa- 
rently with  complete  success,  Nageli's  view  of  the  utricular  na- 
ture of  chlorophyll-granules,  showing  that  they  have  no  invest- 
ing membrane  distinct  from  the  contents,  still  less  a  cellulose 
coat  comparable  with  the  cell-membrane.  He  still  believes  that 
the  grains  of  chlorophyll  do  not  belong  to  the  ternary  series  of 
products  at  all,  but  consist  of  a  soft  proteinous  substance,  related 
to  albumen,  in  which  in  most  cases  one  or  more  starch-grains  are 
imbedded,  and  which  owes  its  green  hue  to  the  presence  of  an 
