226 
ON  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  CREOSOTE. 
found  necessary  to  add  a  few  drops  of  water.  On  being  dried 
at  90°  F.,  they  only  required  re-rolling  once  ;  after  being  kept 
for  a  few  days  in  a  dry  room,  they  did  not  become  flexible,  but 
still  did  not  retain  their  ready  brittleness.  One  ounce  under  a 
bell-glass  with  water,  increased  in  three  days  about  40  grains  in 
weight. 
4th.  The  observation  of  some  former  authorities,  that  the  meal 
of  peas  recommends  itself  as  a  good  addition  to  prevent  the  soft- 
ening of  this  extract,  brought  him  upon  the  idea  that,  not  starch, 
but  some  vegetable  substance  containing  starch,  would  be  better 
adapted  to  obtain  this  brittle  character  ;  he  says,  I  believe  that 
I  have  found  in  finely  powdered  liquorice  root,  not  only  the 
most  natural,  but  also  an  improvement  to  the  tabte  of  the  refined 
liquorice  extract.  Sixteen  parts  of  the  purified  extract  were 
mixed  with  one  part  of  finely  powdered  liquorice  root,  and  on 
being  brought  to  the  consistence  of  pill  mass,  rolled  in  sticks. 
Dried  at  a  temperature  of  90°  F.,  they  required  but  one  rollings 
remaining  in  a  dry  room  perfectly  brittle.  The  taste  was 
pleasanter  than  Nos.  1,  2  and  3.  This  extract  was  naturally 
not  perfectly  soluble  in  cold  water ;  an  ounce  of  it  increased  24 
grains  after  an  exposure  of  three  days  with  water  under  a  bell- 
glass.  From  the  above  investigations,  it  will  be  seen  that  a 
more  constant  state  of  brittleness  is  obtained  by  the  addition  of 
powdered  liquorice  root  to  the  refined  liquorice ;  also,  that  a 
vegetable  powder  containing  starch,  is  better  adapted  as  an  ad- 
dition than  starch  itself. 
The  discovery  that  the  addition  of  sugar  of  milk  lessens  the 
inclination  of  refined  liquorice  to  absorb  moisture,  is  not  without 
some  merit,  as  the  powdered  refined  liquorice  has  a  better  sta- 
bility, without  injury  to  the  complete  solubility  in  cold  water.— 
Arcliiv.  der  Pharm.  S.  S.  G. 
ON  THE  COMPOSITION  OF  CREOSOTE. 
By  E,  Yon  Gorup-Besanez. 
In  previous  memoirs,  the  author  had  shown  that  creosote  pre- 
pared according  to  Reichenbach's  directions,  from  beech  wood 
tar,  is  quite  a  different  body  from  phenylic  acid.  The  author 
could  not  hitherto  determine  the  formula  of  creosote  with  perfect 
