Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
•     March,  1909.  .( 
Medicinal  Earths. 
in 
Iodine  Value. — This  determination  was  carried  out  by  the  method 
usually  applied  to  oils,  using  0.2  gramme  of  resin,  dissolving  in  15 
c.c.  of  chloroform,  adding  25  c.c.  of  Hubl's  iodine  solution  and 
letting  stand  for  four  hours  in  a  dark  place.  After  this  300  c.c.  of 
water  were  added  and  titration  of  excess  iodine  effected  by  N/10 
thiosulphate.  The  iodine  values  found  show  that  they  form  no 
means  of  distinguishing  between  the  true  and  Mexican  scammony 
resin,  but  are  about  the  same  for  both  varieties. 
As  a  whole  the  work  shows  that  a  resin  of  very  low  ash  and  very 
high  ether  solubility  may  be  obtained,  whose  chemical  constants  can 
be  determined  with  a  considerable  degree  of  accuracy;  further,  that 
by  the  saponification  value  alone  we  may  distinguish  between  the 
resin  from  Convolvulus  Scammonia  and  that  from  Ipomoea  Oriza- 
bensis.  When  it  is  necessary,  it  appears. that  we  have  in  the  saponifi- 
cation value  a  characteristic  constant  of  both  resins,  which  will  enable 
us  to  distinguish  them  or  detect  any  marked  adulteration  of  the  true 
resin  with  that  of  the  false  root. 
From  the  Laboratories  of 
Parke,  Davis  &  Co. 
HISTORY  OF  THE  MEDICINAL  EARTHS  AND  OF 
CATAPLASMA  KAOLINL* 
By  Dr.  Hermann  Schelenz, 
Cassel. 
The  history  of  remedies,  especially  such  as  nature  gives  us,  those 
of  animal,  vegetable  and  mineral  origin,  teaches  us  that  in  olden 
times  altogether,  and  later  on  very  often  they  were  discovered  by 
the  public  through  accident  or  through  an  unknown  inward  impulse 
— so-called  instinct.  Reflections  of  this  kind  gave  us  the  teachings 
of  "  Signa  Naturae/'  "  Contraria  Contrariis "  and  "  Similia 
Similibus." 
Thus  discovered  by  the  people  these  medicines  were  tried  and 
used  and  came  in  public  favor,  and  if  found  to  be  of  value  thev  were 
then  adopted  by  the  medical  school,  used  during  a  shorter  or  longer 
period,  with  more  or  less  enthusiasm.  These  medicaments  gradually 
were  used  less  and  less  and  at  last  were  put  aside  and  became  obso- 
lete.  But  after  a  while  these  forgotten  remedies  were  again  brought 
*  Translated  by  Otto  Raubenheimer,  Brooklyn. 
