i5o 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
f  Am  Jour.  Phariu. 
\      March,  1909. 
reaction  melting  at  73  °  to  74  0  C,  sparingly  soluble  in  organic 
solvents  and  in  fats.  It  is  recommended  as  a  non-toxic  local  anaes- 
thetic to  the  mucous  membrane. 
Diprop'dsin  is  an  odorless  and  tasteless  white  powder,  melting  at 
171 0  to  1720  C,  insoluble  in  water,  readily  soluble  in  other  liquids, 
but  only  sparingly  soluble  in  other  liquids.  It  is  decomposed  by 
alkaline  solutions  or  secretions  liberating  the  anaesthetic  propasin. — 
Pliar in.  Jour.,  London,  1909,  v.  28,  p.  86. 
Stroplianthus. — H.  Beckurts  discusses  the  sulphuric  acid  test  for 
strophanthus  and  points  out  that  75  per  cent,  sulphuric  acid,  with 
comparatively  thin,  transverse  sections  of  the  seed  will  give  most 
uniformly  satisfactory  results. — Apoth.  Ztg.,  1908,  v.  23,  pp.  921- 
922. 
Synthetic  Snprarenin. — Krausz  (Apoth.  Ztg.,  1908,  v.  23,  p. 
701)  enumerates  a  number  of  tests  and  reactions  for  the  alkaloid  of 
the  suprarenal  gland  and  the  synthetic  product  that  is  now  being 
marketed. 
Synthetic  suprarenin  is  now  being  made  identical  in  every  respect 
with  the  natural  substance.  Formerly  the  synthetic  preparation  was 
optically  inactive,  owing  to  its  consisting  of  a  mixture  of  dextro- 
and  laworotatory  suprarenin,  the  former  being  therapeutically  inac- 
tive. It  has  now  been  found  possible  to  separate  the  two  forms  and 
the  synthetic  suprarenin  bids  fair  to  surpass  the  natural  product 
in  efficiency. — F.  Flacher,  abstract  from  Ztschr.  f.  Pliysiol.  Chan,  in 
Phann.  Jour.,  London,  1909,  v.  28,  p.  27. 
Cushny  reports  on  the  action  of  the  pure,  laworotatory  supra- 
renin which  he  finds  to  be  equal  in  power  to  the  natural  product, 
while  the  dextrorotatory  suprarenin  was  found  to  be  much  weaker. 
While  it  is  difficult  to  obtain  the  exact  relative  strength  of  the  two 
bodies,  it  appears  to  require  more  than  ten  times  as  much  dextro- 
suprarenin  as  lsevosuprarenin  to  raise  the  blood-pressure  to  a  definite 
point. — Phann.  Jour.,  London,  1909,  v.  28,  p.  56. 
