82 Structure of Grindelia Robusta. {Am. Am. Jour. Pharm. muscular agitation. The experiments were made on dogs and rabbits.-L'Union Méd., Oct. 4, 1888. A CHARACTERISTIC REACTION OF BISMUTH.-A solution of iodide of bismuth in iodide of potassium is sometimes used, under the name of iodobismuthate of potash, for the research of the alkaloids. It gives insoluble, orange-yellow compounds with many natural inorganic bases, but gives no indication of the nature of the alkaloid found. I have thought, writes M. E. Léger, that this would be otherwise should we use such a reagent in finding bismuth. I used a reagent composed of cinchonine, 1 gm.; iodide of potassium, 2 gm.; distilled water, 100 gm. The cinchonine is dissolved in water with the aid of a few drops of nitric acid; the liquid is heated and the iodide added. This solution, added to one of nitrate of bismuth gives an orange yellow precipitate. It should be used in excess, avoiding solutions containing hydrochloric or sulphuric acid; it must not contain too much nitric acid. This reagent may be used for metals precipitable by H,S, whose sulphides are insoluble in sulphhydrate of ammonium. It gives, with minimum solutions of mercury greenishyellow precipitate, turning black with excess; maximum solutions give yellowish-white; cadmium, white or yellowish; silver, the iodide if the argentic salt is in excess, yellow if the reagent is in excess; copper (minimum) precipitate of cupric iodide; maximum, brown maroon, containing iodine, copper and cinchonine; lead, sulphur-yellow precipitate, soluble in an excess of nitrate of lead, and containing iodine, lead and cinchonine.-J. de Phar. et de Chim., Dec. 15, 1888. THE ANATOMICAL STRUCTURE OF GRINDELIA ROBUSTA.' BY JOSEPH BEAUVAIS, MOSCOW. Grindelia robusta belongs to the order of Compositæ, suborder Tubulifloræ, and is an herb with oblong, thickish, light green and toothed leaves. Both sides of the leaves have the epidermis covered with a thick cuticular layer and contain glands and stomata. The glands consist of a one-celled base bearing the gland-cell which is filled with resin. Beneath the epidermis of both the upper and lower surface is 1 Translated from Berichte der Deutschen Botanischen Gesellschaft, 1888, p. 403. -J. M. M. Am. Feb., 1889. Structure of Grindelia Robusta. 83 found a layer of parallel palisade cells containing chlorophyll; the central part of the mesophyll consists of spongy parenchyma, in which the vascular bundles are imbedded. These bundles are closed, collateral, and are surrounded by a sheath of thick-walled collenchyma, gradually passing into the hypoderma of the upper and lower surface of the leaf. Rather large resin ducts are put within this collenchyma layer. Ths involucre of the flower head consists of spirally arranged scales. A transverse section through the top portion of these scales is nearly circular, and is covered with an epidermis, bearing glands and stomata upon the outer surface, and covering several tiers of palisade cells, both on the outer and inner surface. A vascular bundle in the centre of the scale is surrounded by a layer of collenchyma containing resin ducts. The transverse section through the middle of the involucral scale is elongated in shape and is divided into an upper and a lower part by a rather broad zone of sclerenchyma. In the upper part beneath the epidermis is a palisade layer extending to the edges; but the lower part has no palisade cells, but contains elongated, thick-walled cells, forming large intercellular spaces. Near the base of the involucral scale the edges are free from palisade cells, but contain collenchyma. The florets are small, and collected into many-flowered heads; those of the outer row are unisexual and ligulate, while the disc florets are tubular. The latter are on both sides covered with a cuticized epidermis, and contain a slightly developed mesophyll with compressed cells, which, however, are wanting in some parts of the corolla. The ligulate florets have a well-developed mesophyll consisting of thin-walled cells, and containing yellow oil in the intercellular spaces. Papillæ are formed on both sides of the epidermis. Anthers, gynæcium and the seed show no striking characteristics. The receptacle has rather long appendages (Zotten) which differ from those of most composita in not containing vascular bundles. Acetic Acid as an Antiseptic.—In 3 per cent. solutions, acetic acid has given favorable results as an antiseptic in gynecological practice. It has several advantages, in that it is not poisonous, like carbolic acid; it is hæmostatic, and becomes absorbed readily. It does not injure instruments like bichloride of mercury (Jour. de Méd de Paris).—Med. News, Nov. 24, 1888. Jour. Pharm Feb., 1889 ARROW-POISON OF THE SOMALIS.1 By ARNAUD. The Somalis on the east coast of Africa prepare an arrow-poison from the aqueous extract of the wood, and especially of the root of Ouabaio, a tree which is closely related to although not identical with Carissa Schimperi, a native of Abyssinia. A concentrated extract of the wood in warm water was prepared and precipitated with lead acetate, the filtrate treated with hydrogen sulphide, and the second filtrate boiled and afterwards concentrated in a vacuum. The concentrated solution was mixed with six times its volume of alcohol of 85°, boiled, allowed to cool in shallow vessels, and the crystals thus obtained purified by recrystallization first from alcohol of 85° and afterwards from water. 30 The ouabain thus obtained contains no nitrogen and has the composition CH46012. It forms thin, white, nacreous lamella with no taste, no smell, and a neutral reaction. It is almost insoluble in cold water, but is readily soluble in boiling water, with a great tendency to form supersaturated solutions, and also dissolves readily in moderately concentrated alcohol, but is almost insoluble in absolute alcohol and insoluble in ether or chloroform. At 180°, it becomes pasty with slight decomposition, and at 200° it is completely melted. A warm aqueous solution has a rotatory power [a] D =- 34°. A concentrated aqueous solution gives a precipitate with tannin. boiled with dilute acids, it yields a reducing sugar, and hence it would seem that ouabaïn is a glucoside. When When ouabaïn crystallizes from an aqueous solution, it contains 7 mols. H2O which is not completely expelled below 130°. When boiled with barium hydroxide, ouabaïn yields a barium-derivative which when dried at 100° has the composition Ba(C3H47O13)2 Ouabain has no toxic effect when introduced into the stomach, but when introduced by subcutaneous or intravenous injection, it acts on the heart and produces death. 2 milligrams will kill a dog of 12 kilos. in a few minutes. Magnesium silicate is recommended by Dr. Debove in chronic diarrhoea. Dose 1.5 to 40 gm. To phthisical patients it is given with milk for a prolonged period.-D. Med. Woch. 1 1 Compt. rend., cvi., 1011-1014, reprinted from Jour. Chem. Soc., 1888, p. 848. STROPHANTIN.' BY ARNAUD. The crushed seeds of Strophantus Kombé are treated with boiling alcohol of 70° for several hours, and the solution distilled to a small bulk on a water-bath; the distillation is finished in a vacuum, care being taken that the extract remains liquid. The residue is cooled, the supernatant oil and resin separated, the liquid filtered, and heated with a small quantity of basic lead acetate and some finely powdered litharge. The liquid is again filtered, the lead removed by means of hydrogen sulphide, and the filtrate concentrated at 50° to a thick syrup, from which the strophantin slowly crystallizes. The crystals may be purified by recrystallization from boiling water; the yield is 4.5 grams per kilo. Strophantin is a white bitter substance, which crystallizes in micaceous plates, grouped round a nucleus. It readily retains water mechanically, and also forms a hydrate, which loses its water in a vacuum or in dry air. The hydrate melts below 100°, and the residual strophantin is uncrystallizable. If, however, strophantin is carefully dried in a vacuum, it may be heated at 110° without alteration. Anhydrous strophantin becomes pasty at 165°, and partially decomposes. It acts on polarized light: the rotatory power of a 2.3 per cent. aqueous solution [a]D = +30°. It is only slightly soluble in water, and somewhat soluble in alcohol, but is insoluble in ether, carbon bisulphide, and benzene. It is precipitated from its aqueous solutions by tannin. Strophantin contains no nitrogen, and has a composition corresponding with the formula C3H8O12. It seems to be the immediate higher homologue of ouabaïn which it closely resembles in properties. Perhaps these and all other cardiac poisons have a common nucleus. The removal of Warts by Carbolic Acid.-Professor B. Frankel, in the Wiener medizinische Presse, Oct. 1888, recommends the following method for the removal of warts: The skin surrounding the wart should be covered with cotton, and thus protected. Then, by means of a glass rod, apply the liquid carbolic acid to the wart and allow it to dry. No pain is perceptible. In the course of two or three days a part of the wart will fall off. Renew the application until all has been removed.—Med. News, Dec. 1. 1 Compt. rend., cvii., 179–182; reprinted from Jour. Chem. Soc., 1888, p. 1310. Jour DIOSMIN.1 BY P. SPICA. In the author's former examination of the leaves of Barosma crenata and B. betulina,2 it was found that after the essential oil had been removed, alcohol extracted from the leaves a crystalline substance, which he called diosmin. The amount present in the leaves varies very much, not only with the season when they are gathered, but also with the age of the plant; at no time, however, is it large. The best way of extracting it is first to treat the leaves with light petroleum to remove the essential oil and waxy and resinous matters, then with cold alcohol of 85 per cent., which removes the chlorophyll and acid extractive substances, and finally to treat it with boiling alcohol of 80 to 85 per cent., which is the best solvent for the diosmin. It is very troublesome to purify, but this may be effected by treating the residue left on evaporation of the alcoholic solution successively with a solution of ammonium carbonate, cold alcohol, and ether, and then recrystallizing repeatedly from alcohol of 80-85 per cent. When pure, diosmin is a white, crystalline powder, consisting of very slender microscopic needles, odorless, tasteless, and insoluble in most solvents. Its best solvent is boiling alcohol of 80-85 per cent. It melts at 243-244°, with decomposition and evolution of gas. If cautiously melted on platinum foil, it emits a pleasant odor resembling that of orange peel when it begins to burn; subsequently the odor is like that of caramel. Diosmin does not reduce Fehling's solution. It dissolves in concentrated sulphuric acid, and in solutions of the alkalis with yellow coloration, but at the same time undergoes alteration. When diosmin is boiled for some time in a reflux apparatus with dilute hydrochloric acid, or with sulphuric acid of 3-4 per cent., it is resolved into a crystalline compound, sparingly soluble in water, and a substance easily soluble in water; the latter has a feeble dextrorotatory power, and is capable of reducing Fehling's solution. The crystalline substance is moderately soluble in alcohol, and still better in a mixture of alcohol and benzene. It forms minute, orange-yellow needles, for which no definite melting point could be obtained, but it appears to be somewhere about 145°. The results obtained by the analyses of diosmin dried in a vacuum 1 Gazetta, xviii., 1-9; reprinted from Jour. Chem. Soc., 1888, p. 1310. 2AM. JOUR. PHAR., 1886, p. 478. |