170 
MISCELLANY. 
fluid oil. This oil, he adds, is the true active principle of the plant, and 
is one of the most virulent poisons known, having a strong analogy to 
strychnine. It causes death by asphyxia, from paralyzing the muscles 
of respiration. The heart is not affected, and the senses are perfect as 
long as respiration continues. This deleterious action is not modified, as 
Geiger, supposes, by acids; on the contrary, coneine is rendered even 
more active by combining it with hydrochloric acid. 
Journ. de Pharm. 
New Acid. — M. Robiquet presented to the Society of Pharmacy at the 
meeting of the 3d February, a new acid which he had obtained by treat- 
ing gallic acid with sulphuric acid. On heating the former with the 
latter, till sulphurous acid begins to be disengaged, the sulphuric acid 
assumes a bistre colour ; if it then be poured in water, two precipitates 
are formed, one flocculent, the other crystalline and reddish ; this latter 
is capable of saturation with alkalies ; sublimes in yellowish or red crys- 
tals; is insoluble in alcohol and ether. Ibid. 
Henderson's Collyrium in amaurosis. — 
R. Strychnia, gr. ij. 
Dilute acetic acid, £i. 
Distilled water, §i. 
A few drops of this collyrium, applied to the eye, several times a day, is 
said to have a beneficial effect in amaurosis. Ibid. 
Guaiacic acid. — M. Bighini announces that he has discovered a new 
acid in the Guaiacum officinale, combined with a fat volatile oil. To ob- 
tain the acid, he advises the oil to be mixed with peroxide of manganese, 
and this compound decomposed by diluted sulphuric acid ; the new acid 
is precipitated. It is soluble in alcohol, and may be purified in the same 
way as benzoic acid. The resin of guaiacum affords a fluid on distilla- 
tion, the smell of which resembles that of creosote ; its taste is pungent, 
and when properly treated it furnishes pure creosote. Ibid. 
Proportion of Ashes in different parts of Wood. — A portion of heart wood, 
of sap wood, and of intermediate layers of the trunk of an oak of sixty 
years of age, which had grown in a sandy loam, were separately burned. 
The heart yielded .27 per cent, of ashes, the middle layers .34 per cent., 
and the sap wood .532 per cent. — Ibid, and Ann. des Mines. 
Tannate of Gelatine for talcing Casts from Medals, &c. — This substance 
is obtained by adding a decoction of gall nuts, sumach, oak bark, or other 
substance containing tannin, to a solution of glue or isinglass, in water. 
It is fibrous and nearly insoluble. When exposed to the air in thin layers 
