tend to confirm the observation that ammonium sulphocyanide, which often occurs as an impurity in commercial ammonium sulphate, is injurious to vegetation, owing to its physical and chemical action on the seeds and some of their constituents. Chili Saltpetre as Manure. A. Stutzer. (Bied. Centr., 1886, 585-597; Journ. Chem. Soc., 1887, 77.) The author was awarded the first prize offered by the union of nitrate firms on the western coasts of South America for his essay on the value of Chili saltpetre as a manure. Wagner has condensed the contents of this essay and that of Damseaux, which obtained the second prize, into a compact form of questions and answers, which are of value in agricultural science. Some of the answers follow: Plants cannot grow under normal conditions unless a supply of nitrogen is available for their roots, and a satisfactory crop cannot be obtained without the use of nitrogenous manures. Stable manure, in the quantities produced on a farm, does not provide sufficient nitrogen to produce good results; high farming requires that nitrogen be procured as artificial manure. Manures containing nitrogen in the form of animal matter take a long time to alter into nitrates, whilst the Chili saltpetre is at once available. The increase in weight of various crops tried was greater when the saltpetre was used than when ammonium sulphate was the manure. The application of phosphates and potassium salts increase materially the activity of the saltpetre. This manure does not unduly exhaust the soil; it renders the mineral plant foods more assimilable, but no more of them is removed than is accounted for in the increase of the crop. The crops which are most benefited by Chili saltpetre are all straw-growing plants; next rape, mustard, etc. ; fodder, sugar-beets, and potatoes come in the second rank, meadow grasses in the third; the least effect is produced on pease, vetches, lupines, clover, and linseed. Chili saltpetre should be applied as top-dressing only on sandy or porous soils, just before vegetation begins; the time of application should be in early spring. PART II. MATERIA MEDICA AND PHARMACY. Melon Root. (Pharm. Journ., 3rd series, xvii. 687.) The root of the melon is said by Dr. Heberger to possess emetic and purgative properties, and Dr. Torosicviez has obtained from the roots a crude emetic principle by treating the aqueous extract with alcohol. It has a slightly acrid and bitter taste, and is precipitated by acetate of lead and infusion of nut galls. It is easily soluble in caustic potash, and is precipitated again by acids as a greyish brown precipitate difficultly soluble in water. From experiments made with this substance in the military hospital of Lemberg, it would seem that a solution of nine centigrams of it is sufficient to cause vomiting. The powdered root of the wild plant acts, according to Dr. Langewicz, as an emetic in doses of 50 to 75 centigrams. Sumbul Root. E. Schmidt. (Archiv der Pharm., 1886, 528.) The author shows that angelic acid does not pre-exist in this root, since it is not extracted by boiling with a weak solution of sodium carbonate. But on treating the balsam obtained with hot petroleum-benzin, with an alcoholic solution of potash, angelic acid is formed, together with the isomeric methylcrotonic acid, probably by the decomposition of one of the constituents of the root. Bryony Root. C. F. Heller. (Amer. Journ. Pharm., February, 1887.) The author made the following determinations with a specimen of the root containing 75 per cent. of moisture. It yielded 55 per cent. of ash, consisting of sulphate, chloride, and carbonate of potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, and aluminium. The benzol extract amounted to 0.746 per cent., and consisted of fixed oil, waxy substance, and colouring matter. The alcoholic extract weighed 15 494 per cent., and from it the gluceside bryonin was prepared by the process of Walz. The aqueous extraction contained 9.360 per cent. of solid matter, consisting mainly of sugar, gum, and albumen. On continued boiling with diluted sulphuric acid, starch was the chief principle taken up, the extract weighing 49-024 per cent. Caustic soda now dissolved 61 per cent., and the residuary cellulose, after bleaching and drying, weighed 6:506 per cent. Veratrum Viride and Veratrum Album. H. C. Schrenk. (Pharm. Journ., 3rd series, xvii. 609.) The rhizome of Veratrum viride is so like that of V. album that Flückiger states that it is quite impossible to distinguish the root-stocks of the two species. The author remarks that those of V. viride have often a decidedly loose and spongy structure, but he is not certain whether this is characteristic of this species or depends upon the time at which the rhizomes were collected. The only structural difference he has noticed is that the cells of the endoderm, when cut transversely, present a lumen (or empty space), which has the form of a U in V. viride and of a V in Veratrum album. Constituents of the Root of Hydrastis Canadensis. M. Freund and W. Will. (Ber. der deutsch. chem. Ges., xix. 2797-2803.) Perrins (Pharm. Journ., 2nd series, iii. 546) obtained from the root of Hydrastis, berberine and another alkaloid, to which he ascribed the name hydrastine. The authors found that the latter is best obtained by extracting the finely powdered roots with ether. Their analyses confirm the formula C22 H23 N O ascribed to it by Mahla. When hydrastine is dissolved in hydrochloric acid and treated with potassium permanganate, it is converted into opianic acid. Nitric acid acts on hydrastine, yielding a base melting at 115°, very readily soluble in chloroform, alcohol, and ether. Hydrastine is not changed when fused with potash. These experiments show that great analogy exists between hydrastine and narcotine. The root also yielded a crystalline non-nitrogenous constituent, possessing the properties of a lactone. A New Adulteration of Senega. C. Patrouillard. (Journ. de Pharm., April, 1887, 364.) The adulterant described by the author consists of the rootlets of Ruscus aculeatus. These differ from senega root in the paler colour of their external surface, and in being cylindrical and of nearly uniform thickness throughout. The transverse section also has a nearly uniform white colour, . whilst in senega the cortical portion is darker than the meditullium, especially in the layer immediately surrounding the latter. The senega root examined by the author contained about a quarter of its weight of the adulterant. The Active Principle of Calumba Root. H. Duquesnel. (Chemist and Druggist, April 23, 1887.) The author proposes a new method for the preparation of calumbin, the peculiar principle |