146 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      March,  1909. 
between  the  rhizome  of  the  European  Scopola  carniolica  and  that 
of  the  Japanese  variety  Scopola  japonica.  There  is  a  distinct 
structural  difference  between  the  two  drugs,  the  Japanese  root  being 
the  larger  and  somewhat  lighter  in  color.  The  Japanese  root,  too, 
contains  only  about  one-half  the  amount  of  alkaloid  contained  in 
the  European  root. — Pharm.  Zentralb.,  1908,  v.  50,  p.  516. 
Sugar. — The  per  capita  consumption  of  sugar  in  the  United 
States  was  77.54  pounds  in  1907,  which  exceeds  that  of  any  pre- 
vious year,  the  total  amount  of  refined  sugar  amounting  to  2,843,928 
long  tons  against  2,760,343  long  tons  produced  in  1906. — /.  Ind. 
and  Eng.  Chem.,  1909,  v.  1,  p.  3. 
False  Senega. — C.  Hartwich  (Sc.hweiz.  Wochenschr.  f.  Chem.  u. 
Pharm.,  1908,  v.  46,  pp.  537  and  749)  calls  attention  to  two>  samples 
of  false  senega  that  have  been  brought  to  his  notice  within  a  short 
time.  He  describes  the  macroscopic  as  well  as  the  microscopic 
characteristics  of  the  root  and  calls  attention  to  the  absence  of  the 
characteristic  keel  of  the  true  senega  in  one  of  the  samples,  while 
in  the  other  an  eccentric  formation  of  the  several  structures  occa- 
sionally simulates  the  keel  of  the  true  drug. — Apoth.  Ztg.,  1908, 
v.  23,  pp.  906-907. 
Ergot  Oil. — A.  Rothje  has  studied  the  physical  and  chemical 
properties  of  the  oil  extracted  from  ergot  by  ether.  He  finds  that 
the  oil  has  a  specific  gravity  of  0.925,  a  refraction  index  of  1.4685,  a 
saponification  value  of  178.4  to  180.2,  an  acid  value  of  73.4  to  74.5, 
and  contains  7.9  to  8.1  per  cent,  of  glycerin,  0.36  per  cent,  of  unsa- 
ponifiable  matter  and  0.2  per  cent,  of  ash. — Pharm.  Jour.,  London, 
1909,  v.  28,  p  32.  from  Arch.  d.  Pharm. 
South  African  Oil  of  Eucalyptus. — E.  F.  Harrison  has  examined 
a  sample  of  this  oil  from  the  Transvaal.  The  cineol  content  was 
83.7  per  cent.,  the  specific  gravity  0.9227  at  1 5.5 0  C.  and  gave  a 
negative  test  for  phellandrene. — Pharm.  Jour.,  London,  1909,  v.  28, 
p.  4. 
Berte  and  Romeo,  commenting  on  the  characters  and  tests  given 
in  the  U.  S.  P.  VIII,  for  oil  of  lemon,  say  that  the  minimum  limit 
for  specific  gravity  at  25 0  C.  should  be  0.849  an^  the  minimum  figure 
for  optical  rotation  -f-580.  As  regards  the  difference  in  optical 
rotation  of  the  first  10  per  cent,  of  distillate  and  that  of  the  original 
oil,  the  limit  of  20  should  be  extended  to  40  or  50.  Berte  and  Romeo 
did  not  get  satisfactory  results  with  the  method  given  for  the  deter- 
mination of  citral  owing  to  the  difficulty  of  observing  the  neutral 
