370  Gleanings  from  the  German  Journals.  {Am.  Jour.Pbarni. 
evaporated  to  dryness  and  exhausted  with  alcohol ;  this  solution 
gave  a  precipitate  upon  addition  of  ether  which  after  purification 
and  drying  formed  an  almost  colorless  powder  easily  soluble  in 
water  and  dilute  alcohol,  forming  slightly  acid  solutions  ;  it  reduces 
Fehling's  solution  after  boiling  with  acid,  is  precipitated  by  basic 
but  not  by  neutral  lead  acetate.  The  saponin  present,  therefore,  is 
made  up  of  two  glucosides,  differing  from  the  saponin  isolated  by 
Robert  from  senega  and  quillaja  in  but  one  respect,  namely,  a  slightly 
acid  reaction  of  the  one  precipitated  by  basic  lead  acetate.  The 
filtrate  from  the  basic  lead  acetate  precipitation  was  'made  alkaline 
with  soda,  extracted  with  ether,  and  the  thick,  brown,  alkaline  liquid 
purified  by  solution  in  acid,  washing  with  ether,  again  liberating  by 
soda.  The  aqueous  solution  of  the  substance  gives  precipitates 
with  phosphomolybolic  acid,  Mayer's  reagent,  potassium  tri-iodide, 
tannin,  etc.,  but  the  quantity  of  the  substance  present  in  the  drug 
is  so  slight  that  it  appears  venturesome  at  present  to  speak  of  an 
alkaloid  in  grindelia  robusta. — Journ.  d.  Pharm.  Elsass-Loih- 
ringen,  1892,  133. 
Adulterated  sodium  salicylate. — J.  E.  Gerock  recently  came  in  pos- 
session of  a  sample  of  sodium  salicylate,  the  red  color  of  which  was 
corrected  by  the  addition  of  a  quantity  of  salicylate  which  had  been 
colored  distinctly  blue.  Owing  to  the  minute  quantity  of  coloring 
matter  present  it  was  impossible  to  identify  it,  but  it  is  believed  to 
be  of  artificial  organic  origin. — Journ.  der  Pharm.  ElsassPoth- 
ringen,  1892,  142. 
Capsicum  annuum.—hx\  elaborate  investigation  of  this  fruit  with 
a  view  of  closer  studying  the  constituent  principles,  points  out  the 
following  important  results  :  The  alkaloidal  reactions  which  point 
to  mere  traces  are  not  due  to  a  substance  pre-existing,  but  to  some 
decomposition  product  formed  either  by  keeping  the  fruit  or  during 
the  chemical  manipulation  ;  the  substance  as  isolated  formed  a 
resinous  mass  of  conine-like  odor,  and  was  very  easily  decomposable 
by  the  strong  alkalies.  In  examining  the  capsaicin,  attention  was 
also  paid  to  its  accompanying  substances  ;  ether  was  found  to  be  the 
best  solvent,  as  it  is  extracted  more  than  any  other  solvent  and 
exhausted  the  fruit  in  a  short  time  so  that  the  residue  was  void  of 
any  sharp  taste;  the  ether  extract  was  soluble  in  other  solvents 
excepting  90  per  cent,  alcohol ;  by  treating  with  methyl  alcohol  the 
capsaicin  was  removed  from  a  considerable  portion  of  other  constit- 
