192  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.   {Amip°rif  iS>amu 
tium  lactate  20  gm.,  distilled  water  120  gm.,  glycerin  30  gm. 
The  dose  being  two  tablespoonfuls  a  day  for  five  days,  at  the  end 
of  which  time  the  taenia  has  usually  been  passed  off. 
Toxicity  of  barium  salts. — Dr.  Bardet  {Societ'e  de  Therap.,  Decem- 
ber 9,  1891;  Rep.  de  Pharm.y  1892,  35)  experimented  on  rabbits 
with  barium  chloride.  He  gave  the  same  by  the  stomach  and  by 
hypodermic  injections.  The  poisonous  dose  by  the  stomach 
amounts  to  10  centigm.  pro  kilogram  of  animal ;  they  can,  however, 
after  some  time  take  7  cgm.  pro  y2  kilogm.  without  inconvenience; 
hypodermically,  these  animals  resisted  doses  of  6  cgm.  per  kilogm. 
From  these  experiments  the  author  draws  the  conclusion  that  the 
barium  salts  are  not  as  poisonous  as  has  been  accepted,  and  that 
strontium  salts  which  are  contaminated  by  traces  of  barium  salts 
are  unable  to  produce  toxic  effects  in  man. 
Toxic  effects  of  boric  acid. — Dr.  Lemoine  (Monit.  Pharm.,  January^ 
1892,  1019)  states  that  boric  acid  is  not  such  a  harmless  antiseptic 
as  has  generally  been  accepted,  as  it  may  cause  rubeolous  eruptions^ 
accompanied  by  vomiting,  constant  nausea,  intense  cephalalgia  and 
sleeplessness  without  an  accompaniment  of  rise  in  temperature  or 
acceleration  of  the  pulse.  Furthermore,  a  general  urticaria,  with 
vomiting  and  quiet  delirium,  were  noticed. 
Sensitive  test  paper. — Neutral  white  filter  paper  is  immersed  in 
tincture  of  curcuma  (1  to  7)  and  permitted  to  dry.  Each  leaf  is  then 
treated  separately  with  a  2  per  cent,  solution  of  potassium  hydrate, 
and  then  rapidly  washed  in  pure  water.  The  paper  is  then  dried 
and  preserved  in  tinfoil;  this  is  necessary  as  it  is  altered  in  contact 
with  air.  The  sensitiveness  of  the  paper  is  shown  by  its  coloring 
in  a  solution  of  hydrochloric  acid  (1-150,000)  and  also  by  its  change 
in  color  in  a  solution  of  carbonic  acid.  The  test  paper  is  used  in 
the  same  manner  as  litmus  paper. — (Bollet.farm.,  1891,  721,  through 
Rep.  de  Pharm.,  1892,  28.) 
Analysis  of  commercial  starches. — A.  Baudry  («« La  Pomme  de  terre 
industrielle ,"  through  L' Union  Pharm.,  1892,  63)  proposes  an  analy- 
sis based  on  the  following  facts:  (1)  Salicylic  and  benzoic  acids 
completely  dissolve  starch  on  heating  ;  (2)  the  soluble  starch  is  dex- 
trorotary :  (3)  the  deviation  is  proportional  to  the  amount  of  dis- 
solved starch  for  the  same  length  of  tube.  The  manner  of  applying 
this  method  is  the  following  :  3-321  gm,  starch,  tc  be  analyzed,  is 
