134  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {AmMareh\i8&rm' 
Syrupus  Benzoini. — Francis  F.  French  considers  the  following  to 
be  the  best  process  for  preparing  this  syrup  :  Prepare  a  tincture 
from  2  drachms  of  benzoin  with  sufficient  alcohol,  evaporate  to  a 
small  bulk;  add  talcum  3ij,  also  a  little  sugar,  afterward  4  fl.  oz.  of 
water ;  filter  and  dissolve  in  the  filtrate  6  oz.  of  sugar.  (See  also 
Am.  Jour.  Phar.,  1 891 ,  p.  187). 
After  having  made  satisfactory  syrups  of  benzoin  by  several  for- 
mulas, Wm.  E.  Gosh  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  it  is  an  unneces- 
sary preparation,  being  not  as  pleasant  as  syrup  of  tolu,  and  not 
possessing  any  medicinal  properties  superior  to  those  of  the  latter. 
Suppositoria  Glycerini. — For  preparing  suppositories  containing 
90  per  cent,  of  glycerin  Geo.  W.  Hackenberger  recommends  tritu- 
rating 4  p.  exsiccated  sodium  carbonate  and  2  p.  powdered  castile 
soap  with  90  p.  glycerin,  and  heating  over  a  water-bath  until  free 
from  foam,  then  add  4  p.  stearin,  again  heat  until  free  from  foam, 
strain  and  pour  into  moulds. 
For  50  per  cent,  glycerin  suppositories  mix  glycerin  250  p.  and 
water  200  p.;  triturate  with  powdered  castile  soap  20  p.  and  exsic- 
cated sodium  carbonate,  heat  over  a  water-bath  as  stated  before, 
add  stearin  15  p.,  again  heat  and  strain.  The  addition  of  soap  is 
considered  an  improvement  over  other  formulas.  Formulas  for 
glycerin  suppositories  made  with  soap  were  also  published  in  Amer. 
Jour.  Phar.  1888,  p.  560,  and  1889,  p.  80. 
ABSTRACTS  FROM  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
Translated  for  The  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy. 
Digitalein. — Schmiedeberg  divides  the  active  constituents  of 
digitalis  into  two  classes,  one  soluble  and  the  other  insoluble  in 
water.  He  furthermore  separated  the  soluble  digitalin  into  two 
bodies,  digitonin  and  digitalein,  by  means  of  absolute  alcohol.  J. 
Houdas  (Compt.  rendus,  189 1,  cxiii,  648)  concludes  that  there  is 
only  one  compound  in  the  soluble  digitalin,  viz :  digitalein.  He 
endeavored  to  separate  this  body,  according  to  Schmiedeberg,  by 
treatment  with  absolute  alcohol  and  precipitation  with  ether,  but 
found  that  the  crystals  obtained  from  the  solution  were  identical 
with  the  portion  remaining  undissolved.  The  most  characteristic 
property  of  digitalein  is  that  on  adding  to  the  aqueous  solution  an 
alcohol  of  the  fatty  series,  a  crystalline  compound,  consisting  of  the 
