i THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OF THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. EDITED BY WILLIAM PROCTER, Jr. Professor of Pharmacy in the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. PUBLISHING COMMITTEE FOR 1859. PROFESSOR BRIDGES, CHARLES ELLIS, ALFRED B. TAYLOR, EDWARD PARR1SH. VOLUME XXXI. , <? 7 /fa A THIRD SERIES, VOL. VII. PHILADELPHIA: MERRIHEW A THOMPSON, PRINTERS, Lodge Street, North side of Pennsylvania Bank* 1859. THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. JANUARY, 1859. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. By Edward Parrish. Having, during the past summer, forsaken my usual profes- sional pursuits to dip into some of the old fountains of pharma- ceutical knowledge, I proceed to fulfil an implied promise by contributing some of my acquisitions, to the common stock. On a review of my notes of travel, I find that many facts which struck me as most important at the moment of learning them, have been left entirely to the tenure of a memory over-crowded with new and strange objects ; while some things which arrested my attention, as in strong contrast with our home institutions, are too familiar to the readers of the Journal, through previous publications, to bear recording. Having elsewhere contributed some hasty correspondence on the dispensing shops of London, Edinburgh and Paris, and at the Pharmaceutical Meetings of our College shown and described the principal novelties in Materia Medica, collected among the English and French pharmaceutists, I propose to devote this essay chiefly to the pharmaceutical organizations and institutions for instruction, and to the manufacturing establishments wThich, through the kindness of friends, I was permitted to visit. At the risk of being too discursive, I shall endeavor, for my own convenience, to carry the reader to some of the most important localities visited during the tour, noting the most interesting items at each, rather than attempt a classification of the subjects treated of. The essay will thus partake rather of the narrative than of the didactic style, and if it please the general, more than the critical reader, be it so. 2 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. I entered England from the south, and so will ask the reader to go with me directly into the heart of the great Metropolis ; and having visited the Tower, Saint Paul's, Westminster, the Tunnel, the Great Eastern, the Parks, Crystal Palace, and other objects of world-wide interest that absorb the attention of the astonished stranger, who finds himself for the first time in London, to accompany me to Bloomsbury Square in search of the house of the London Pharmaceutical Society. This we shall find in the immediate neighborhood of the British Museum, on a retired street, surrounded by dwellings of the better class, oppo- site a neat private plot of trees, flowers and green grass — off from the thoroughfares, and yet near enough to Oxford street for convenient access by omnibus from almost any part of the Metropolis. The building, which, at the time of my late visit, was about being enlarged by the addition of the adjoining house, was origi- nally a commodious dwelling, three stories high, "rough cast" and painted ; since its purchase by the Pharmaceutical Society, it has been adapted to their use by the necessary alterations. On the first floor is the Museum, which is lighted by two large windows fronting on the street, and adjoining it is the Council room. Back of the main stairway is the office of the Secretary of the Society, who, I understand, after the projected improve- ments, is to be a resident officer. The lecture room is on the second floor fronting the street, and back of it the library. The practical laboratory consists of two divisions ; one in the basement, which is used for the rougher and heavier operations, and the other in the third story, devoted to analytical processes, and the preparation of fine chemicals. The arrangement of the laboratories struck me favorably, and the course of instruction, as explained by Professor Bed- wood, appeared well calculated to train up scientific pharmaceu- tists. The laboratories are open from 9 o'clock in the morning till 5 o'clock in the afternoon, every day except one, which is devoted to study in the Museum. Each pupil has certain arti- cles of apparatus given him for his use, and is held responsible for the careful keeping of these. He first enters upon a course of synthetical operations, making and testing the principal me- tallic compounds ; then upon metrical manipulations, determina- PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 3 tion of sp. gr., the preparation of test acid and alkaline solutions, alkalimetry, acidimetry and chlorimetry. The third series includes pneumatic operations ; a fourth, the purification and concentration of the inorganic acids, &c; a fifth, experiments on sugars, starches and gums and some of their deri- vatives ; a sixth series includes the preparation of various pig- ments; a seventh, vegetable extracts, infusions and some of their constituents, such as tannic and gallic acids; an eighth, alcohol and some of its derivatives and combinations, as ethers, &c; a ninth, fatty acids, glycerin and a number of difficult phar- maceutical products ; a tenth series includes the alkaloids and some other organic principles and products. The analytical course embraces systematic analysis and toxicological operations. The whole occupies five months, and costs the student 151. 15s., or about $80 ; he may, however, enter upon a portion only of the course at an expense of 61. 6s., a little over $30, per month. A course of oral instruction, by lectures on chemistry and pharmacy, proceeds simultaneously with the practical course, the whole being under the direction of Professor Redwood, whose reputation is a guarantee of the completeness of the in- struction. I enjoyed an opportunity of hearing this distinguished teacher lecture before his class. The subject was alkaloids ; those derived from plants were classified upon the black board, with reference to their Botanical origin. Aricine was mentioned among those ex- isting in Cinchonacese. The termination in ine is preferred by Prof. R. in designating the alkaloids, instead of ia which has be- come almost universal with us. The New Granada barks were said to be almost exclusively used in England in the manufacture of the cinchona alkaloids. The process for morphia sounded strangely to our American ears, so entirely accustomed to the precipitation of the infusion of opium by ammonia, with alcohol to hold up the coloring mat- ter, and the subsequent crystallization from alcohol. The English process as recommended by Prof. Redwood produces the muriate,, which in England is the principal salt, by treating the opium with water acidulated with muriatic acid, concentrating, filtering and precipitating with ammonia ; the precipitate after washing is again 4 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. dissolved in muriatic acid, treated with animal charcoal, filtered, evaporated and crystallized. After adverting to urea and its sources, Prof. R. spoke of the excrement of the boa .constrictor, and other great snakes at the Zoological gardens, being nearly pure urate of ammonia, and as furnishing ample supplies of uric acid for laboratory pur- poses. Guano was also spoken of as an important source of this, in view of the use now made of Murexide as a pigment in the arts. At Manchester, I had an opportunity of visiting the ex- tensive chemical works of Roberts, Dale & Co., and saw this new and beautiful chemical product, which in its various com- binations is capable of furnishing a variety of shades of color not so readily obtainable with any other chemical agent. Prof. Redwood is an agreeable, though not particularly fluent lecturer, his style is quiet, almost conversational, and although entering into details which appeared very complex, he main- tained an assured manner, which showed a perfect familiarity with his subject. To those who feel curious about the personal characteristics of this veteran in pharmaceutical instruction, I would be glad to give a portraiture which should be satisfactory; but having no talent for that kind of description, can only say, that he is a tall, well developed figure, stooping somewhat, with a grave, though agreeable countenance, and a manner which, to the stranger who thus ventures to speak of him, will long be remembered as both dignified and cordial. The lecture hour at the Pharmaceutical Society is 8, or 8j o'clock, A. M., a time found very convenient in London, where business scarcely begins till after 9 o'clock, and especially fa- vorable, as I have found by some years of observation, to a wakeful and appreciative condition of mind in both teacher and learner. Prof. Bentley is the lecturer at this institution, on Botany and Materia Medica. The summer months are devoted to Bo- tany, and I rose early one morning to attend his lecture at the Botanical Garden, Regent's Park, a delightful morning resort for the sedentary student, independent of the information de- rived upon a branch of science so necessary to a full appreciation of Materia Medica. Each plant, as it came into view in the course of the Lecture, PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 5 was distributed among the class, which in the height of the season is quite numerous, and an opportunity was thus afforded each student to examine the characteristics pointed out by the lecturer, and to carry home a specimen to be studied at leisure. The extensive and elegant garden is further traversed by the students, who at this early hour are not molested by spectators, who visit it later in the day, and, the class being accompanied by the Professor to the beds in which the plants are grouped according to their natural affinities, have further opportunities of becoming acquainted with practical Botany. At the period alluded to, the course was near its close, and many of the students having passed their examinations absented themselves from the Lectures, those in attendance numbering about thirty. In the museum of the Society were groups of young men studying and examining each other in anticipation of the ordeal which was to determine their fitness for the Pro- fession of Druggist and Chemist. Their anxious expression of countenance excited sympathy, not unmixed with a sense of the ludicrous on witnessing the alarm produced by the anticipation of the " greenbox." As is well known, the London Pharmaceutical Society em- braces all of Great Britain, and being protected by a law which makes membership in it almost necessary to the Pharmaceutist, it has a large income and a corresponding influence. By one of the most remarkable coincidences of the journey, I happened to call at the rooms for the first time on the very day of a general meeting of the Society. The occasion was one of unusual interest, in relation to the "Sale of Poisons, &c. Bill" before Parliament, and a large number were collected, so that I could scarcely have had a better opportunity of meeting with the fraternity than was thus accidentally afforded. Hon. Jacob Bell, President of the Society, was in the chair, and first addressed the meeting, detailing the action of the Council of the Society in regard to the proposed legislation, holding up the evil consequences which must result if the bill before the House of Lords should become a law, and urging upon the mem- bers a combined and vigorous action against it. The President is a spare man, of about medium height, with a quick and enthusiastic style of speaking, and a clear and well 6 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. connected course of argument. His assertions were well forti- fied by an array of facts collected with great industry and per- severance, and the earnestness of purpose which pervaded his speech excited a corresponding zeal in his hearers ; this was evinced at intervals by the exclamation, hear, hear, which, as I heard it for the first time in a public meeting, excited the liveli- est enthusiasm. The noble Lords who had prepared the " Sale of Poisons, &c. Bill," were not spared in the course of these remarks; they were spoken of as being wholly unacquainted with the subject, and as not having endeavored to inform themselves by applying in the right quarter for aid. If he, the worthy President, had been called upon to draw a bill for the regulation of shoemakers, he should not have done so till he had put himself in communi- cation with persons who understood the trade, so as to qualify him to draw their bill properly. The gross blunders in the bill were pointed out in detail ; its inefficiency to protect the public, and its tendency to weaken the profession of Pharmacy, by throwing the trade in poisons into the hands of any who should submit to the insufficient examina- tion which it proposed as the only qualification for the respon- sible office now belonging almost exclusively to the druggists and chemists. The selection of one physician, one apothecary, and one phar- maceutist, as the proposed Examiners to determine the fitness of the shopkeeper to deal in poisons, was also urged as an ob- jectionable feature ; the old grudge against the graduates of Apothecaries' Hall was here conspicuous, while no objection was urged against the College of Physicians occupying the position they already enjoy in England of censors over our profession. American pharmaceutists have long since declared their inde- pendence of the doctors ; and indeed to the attempted inter- ference of a medical school with the education of pharmaceu- tists, the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy owes its origin. In this country the physician enjoys no further right to interfere with the pharmaceutist in the exercise of his calling, than the pharmaceutist to determine upon the fitness of the physician. Among the strongest arguments urged in these remarks against the proposed new test of fitness for selling poisons, was its in- PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 7 terference with the legitimate objects and duties of the Phar- maceutical Society. If the bill passed, the effect might be that parties would go to the Government Board and pass the exami- nation for half-a-guinea, and thus would the necessary schools of education be deserted. The President, therefore, urged resistance to the establishment of a Government Board of Examiners in whatever shape it might be offered ; if the object was that the public should not be poisoned, they should confine the sale to the members of the Pharmaceutical Society ; if the government had attended to the recommendations of this Society fifteen or twenty years ago, there would be, at the present time, no ig- norant men in the business. Now, all might be called Upon to submit to an examination, and if they failed in satisfying an irresponsible Board, which might be influenced by the representations of rival apothecaries, they would be ruined. This would be exceedingly unjust, and at variance with precedent, for in the Apothecaries' Act of 1815 every person then in business was exempted from its ope- ration. In other professions matters were managed differently ; in abolishing a court of law, for instance, every person inter- ested had received a pension for life. Now, if all in business as chemists were offered an adequate pension for life, he thought many would be glad to retire at once (hear and laughter). With regard to the registration of the sales of poisons, the Council had been willing to compromise, but if done as proposed in the bill, it would take upwards of ten minutes to vend any poisonous article. At the close of the President's speech, a spirited discussion grew up on all the particulars of the bill, which showed on the part of some of the speakers no little skill in debate. The list of proscribed poisons was shown to be most incomplete, while it contained some articles rarely or never used as poisons. Several speakers from the country towns gave it as their experience dur- ing a long series of years, that with the ordinary precautions dictated by prudence in the management of business, accidental poisoning had rarely or never occurred. The retailing of oxalic acid by the "pen'orth" seems to be very common with these, and it was stated, with much reason, that the proposed restric- ions on the sale of this and other poisons, would lead to the 8 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. purchase of larger quantities at a time and increase the danger of accidents. Some differences of sentiment were manifest in regard to the course of the Council in attempting a modification of the bill, rather than aiming, from the first, at its total defeat, and the idea was even thrown out by one, that members of the medical profession were its secret originators, and that these had too much influence upon the Council of the Society. Considerable merriment was produced by the speech of a broad spoken Scotch member, ridiculing the fogyism of the no- ble Lords, who having originated nothing of value during the session, towards its close set themselves about interfering in this matter for the purpose of gaining a little credit with the country ; he also adverted to the fact that they had been partial in limiting the provisions of the bill to England. They had failed to grasp the thistle, turned aside from the shamrock, and contented themselves with merely smelling the rose. The resolutions condemnatory of the act were unanimously adopted by a show of hands, the English mode of taking the sense of an assembly, the members rising and holding up both hands, with the cry, all, all, all, designed to encourage any who were doubting, to join in the vote. The reader may imagine with what interest an American phar- maceutist, accustomed to mingle with the pharmaceutists of his own country in their convocations, and to hear their relations to each other, to the medical profession, and to the public, dis- cussed, would listen to a debate like this, showing the similarity of trials, of hardships, and of pleasures which attend the ad- ministration of the same important trusts on opposite sides of the Atlantic ; and not a few who read this will join in the ex- ultation which I felt in common with the members of the Lon- don Pharmaceutical Society, when it was announced that the obnoxious " Sale of Poisons, &c. bill" was withdrawn without going into the Commons, in consequence of the outside pres- sure of the fraternity. The graduates of Apothecaries' Hall are a very numerous class in London ; their education, though less comprehensive and scientific than that of the Medical Colleges, is thorough in the practical branches ; their examinations are in Latin ; the PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 9 graduates, under the name of apothecaries, practise minor sur- gery, and prescribe for ordinary diseases, keeping a stock of medicines, and dispensing these to their own patients and others. The pharmaceutical chemists, who, in London, number about six hundred, do not prescribe, but keep shops and dispense medicines by physicians' prescriptions and otherwise, as with us. These obtain the diploma of the London Pharmaceutical Society, by passing an examination conducted by a Board, which is quite independent of the faculty of the school, nor is an attendance upon the school requisite before being examined. This arrange- ment is in strong contrast to the American, which requires at least two courses of Lectures before the examination is allowed, and thus keeps up the classes in the schools. A separate Ex- amining Board exists in Edinburgh, where there ^is no regular school, though but few applicants present themselves. In several of the principal cities there are systematic courses of instruction open to students of pharmacy, facilitating their quali- fying themselves for these examinations. In some cases, these are connected with the Medical Schools, though in others they are conducted with exclusive reference to the education of Pharmaceutists. In Liverpool, a course of in- struction is kept up during the winter by Dr. J. B. Edwards, a competent chemist and pharmaceutist, who has, usually, about twenty students ; these, after qualifying themselves under his direction^ may present themselves before the Examining Board of the parent Society, and obtain the same diploma as the stu- dents of the London School. The practical working of the pharmaceutical business was a subject of so much interest to me, that I lost no opportunity to acquaint myself with it, and although I feel that it is delicate ground to tread upon, I shall endeavor to carry the reader a lit- tle behind the neat exteriors of some of the English shops ; this I may do with the more freedom, since I saw so much to admire and approve, and so little that I could wish to suppress. There is, in London, less show of business in proportion to the amount done, than with us; some of the most extensive pharmaceutical establishments will scarcely attract the attention of a stranger, although many of them have extensive laborato- ries and storehouses, and arrangements for manufacturing, either on the same premises with the dispensing shop or elsewhere. 10 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. An American, accustomed to our conspicuous corner stores, with their large bulk windows, and inviting displays of stock, would be not a little surprised to visit such an establishment as that of Allen & Hanburys, Plough Court, Lombard Street. Entering by a narrow covered passage-way, into a court-yard, on which are the fronts of several old buildings, built soon after the great fire of London, which occurred in 1666, in one of which houses, it is said, Alexander Pope was born, he will find himself in front of the dispensing shop. This is furnished with two counters, one on either side, the longest devoted exclusively to compounding prescriptions, and the other to the sale of legitimate medicines by retail ; back, is a small counting-room, and the extensive laboratories, store rooms, and stairways to the basement and upper stories also communi- cate with the main shop. The prescription counter is designed for five or six to be en- gaged in compounding at one time. To each is appropriated a certain space, and a separate set of implements, including scales, which are held by the hand in weighing, and kept in a box when not in use ; and also a small gas burner for use with sealing wax, in sealing up packages and vials. The graduated measures, perhaps twelve in number, were arranged together near a hy- drant at the end of the counter, and with the other implements are washed at intervals by a female attendant. The situation of this store is not in the midst of the dwellings of the people, but within a few hundred yards of London Bridge, in the centre of business, among the merchants and bankers, whose influence extends to the remotest corners of the earth ; and yet, during the hours of business, from 10 A. M. to 5 P. M., the dispensing shop is thronged with customers from all parts of London and the suburbs, and all hands are busy with prescriptions, many of which are carried miles to their destination. The arrangements for dispensing poisons are calculated to se- cure the public against accident, and to prevent an unfounded charge of carelessless being established against any of the em- ployees. All the principal poisons used in compounding pre- scriptions, are kept in a separate closet adjoining the store, under lock and key. From this they are to be taken with the cogni- zance, in each instance, of another of the employees, who com- PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 11 pares the amount weighed or measured with that ordered in the prescription, so as to be able to testify to the correctness of the operation. The poisons which, for distinction, are in variously shaped and colored bottles, are to be immediately afterwards re- stored to their closet, and it is then locked. In case of an unusual quantity of a powerful remedy being prescribed, a copy of the prescription is made in a book, but in ordinary cases no care of this kind is taken, and the prescription is invariably returned to the patient, who is considered its owner. A separate small closet is appropriated to corrosive sublimate, and to avoid the unnecessary weighing of small quantities, they keep a concentrated solution of known strength, which is stated on the label. On one side of the dispensing shop, and with a separate en- trance to the court, is a room for the reception of goods, and for putting up wholesale orders. Into this the purchased arti- cles are brought daily and placed upon a large counter for exa- mination by one of the firm, previously to being put away among the stock. If any article is found deficient in quality, it is immediately returned to the druggist from whom purchased, it being in London, as with us, the privilege of the purchaser to return within a limited time any sophisticated or deteriorated drug. A private laboratory for the use of the firm in testing and in experimental research is in the rear of this apartment. In this and many other large dispensing stores in England, they make a point of preparing nearly all the preparations, both chemical and galenical, dispensed at their counters ; a custom which American pharmaceutists might well imitate. They are thus able to guarantee more uniformity and excellence in their medicines than can be secured by those who assume the posi- tion of ^mere tradesmen, buying and selling preparations of the quality of which they can have but little certain evidence. The laboratories of this firm are situated in convenient posi- tions. One adjoining the dispensing shop is appropriated to in- fusions ; these are made daily, in the large quantities, generally half-a-gallon each, which experience has indicated as required by an ordinary day's business. They are all made by maceration with hot water. In the other departments of pharmaceutical manufacture. 12 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. chiefly carried on in the basement, the apparatus used by the last generation is still employed, and the products issuing from the old macerating pans, water baths, stills, screw presses, &c, are good illustrations of the superiority of skill in manipulation over completeness and perfection in apparatus. Charcoal, and the bituminous coal so abundant in England, constitute the fuel, and the heat is, for the most part, applied directly, — not by the intervention of steam. In convenient drying closets adjacent to the sources of heat, and pervaded by a hot atmosphere, I saw opium being dried for powdering ; colchicum, which is also a leading article, was being sliced and dried for its various uses. It is not the custom of this house to make the wine of the fresh corm, as is done by some ; they believe that it is a more uniform and perfect pre- paration when the corm has been sliced and properly dried. The end slices and skins of the corm are not rejected in making this or the other preparations. The tinctures and wines are kept in the basement in stone barrels, and drawn off by stop cocks to fill the shop bottles. Phosphorus is kept in a closet under the cellar, and the essential oils and acids in appropriate vaults. Large quantities of cod liver oil were also stowed away in jars ; this valuable article is one of the important manufactures of this establishment. It is made from the livers, which are readily ob- tained in the London market, by placing them in a large 'iron pan over a coal fire, and heating to about 180p F., stirring constantly. The oil which exudes is strained and put into the jars above referred to, and into bottles of various sizes, for sale ; it is not perfectly clear, nor of so very bright a color as some I have seen, but enjoys great popularity in London as a reliable article. A very superior article of distilled cinnamon water is used in their dispensing ; the flavor is remarkably fine, from its being distilled directly from the true cinnamon bark, a drug, of which, by the bye, we saw many thousands of pounds on storage in the great spice rooms at the London docks. Aqua Sambuci is another distilled water very much prescribed and especially adapted to collyria. In passing through the store rooms, our attention was arrested by original packages of Jamaica sarsapa- rilla, which is the kind used exclusively by this house in their PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 13 preparations, — Chiretta, the new East India tonic of the Gen- tian family, — Sassafras, which is imported in root, instead of the bark alone which is used with us, — Indian Bael, a new astrin- gent,— Kamala, the peculiar glandular powder obtained from Rottleria Tinctoria, upon which D. Hanbury, of this firm, has written a thoroughly scientific paper; it is a specific remedy for tape worm, — Lactucarium, which, contrary to my previous ideas, I find is not made extensively in England, the German arti- cle being preferred. The mode of preparing orange peel pursued at this establish- ment, furnishes a beautiful and very aromatic product ; the fruit is peeled in a beautiful curled shaving, without taking off the thick, pulpy, under portion. Elaterium is made in this establishment, of elegant quality ; the process employed is nearly that given by Pereira. A large barrel, almost a hogshead, of confection of senna made by the process of the London Pharmacopoeia, showed how much greater demand there is for this preparation in England than with us. Is not the reason to be found in the inferiority of the article as produced by our manufacturers ? Among the antiquities noticed were some old jars, which have probably been some seventy years in the house ; the labels on two of them were Biascordium and Ung. Diapomph. (oligos f) The employees in this establishment are numerous ; perhaps six " prescription clerks," besides warehousemen, porters and the female attendant, whose duties include the cooking and ser- ving of one daily meal, or more, on the premises. Here, as well as elsewhere, we partook of the generous hospitality of the proprie- tors,— an opportunity highly prized from the associations which cluster round Plough Court, and make it classic ground to the pharmaceutist. This was long the residence and place of business of the great and good William Allen, one of the most eminent philanthro- pists and men of science of his age. A Fellow of the Koyal Society, and of the Linnsean Society, the friend and co-laborer of Davy, Dalton, Wollaston, Babington, and that army of ex- perimental philosophers who gave such an impetus to physical science at the close of the last and beginning of the present century,— he was at the same time an active participant with 14 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. Clarkson, Wilberforce, Fox, and others, in those philanthropic labors which ended in the abolition of the African slave-trade — with Joseph Lancaster, that pioneer in popular education, in those enlarged schemes for teaching the masses, to the success of which society in both hemispheres already owes so much of progress— with Dr. Jenner, Sir Astley Cooper, and others, in realizing the beneficent results of the discovery of the antidote to small pox — and with Elizabeth Fry, and many other ministers of the Society of Friends, in ameliorating the condition of the suffering and oppressed, and carrying the consolations of religion to the abodes of wretchedness and vice. Plough Court was the scene of William Allen's first efforts as a lecturer. The Askesian Society, which met here, was in- tended chiefly for the improvement of its members in philoso- phical studies, and he soon became a periodical lecturer before it, chemistry being his theme ; this was followed by an appoint- ment at Guy's Hospital, and afterwards at the Royal Institu- tion, in both of which situations he was eminently successful as a public teacher. To those who are familiar with the origin of the London Pharmaceutical Society, of which William Allen was the first President, or who have read the records of his eventful life, no apology will be necessary for so full a descrip- tion of the scene of his labors, even though it has occupied the space which might otherwise have been devoted to some of the other London pharmaceutical establishments. Those of Jacob Bell, and Peter Squire, both in Oxford street, with others in different parts of London, have a reputation on this side the Atlantic which might call for a similar description of their arrangements, but in neither case were my opportuni- ties so ample, and the already unusual length of this paper ad- monishes me to cut short this part of my subject. The establishment of Squire is well known in America, as producing a superior article of extract of Cannabis Indica, a preparation which has, within a few years, attained a great repu- tation as an exhilerant narcotic, not liable to the ordinary ob- jections against this class of remedies. I was informed in Lon- don, upon the best authority, that this manufacture was deservedly pre-eminent on account of the facilities of the house for procur- ing from the East Indies regular supplies of fresh and reliable PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 15 leaves of the plant; those which reach the London market through other sources are variable and often nearly worthless. At a manu- facturing laboratory apart from the dispensing shop, they also pro- duce a great variety of chemical and galenical preparations ; all of them that I examined appeared worthy the high reputation of this house. Although honored with the patronage of Her Majesty, the Queen, the shop is not an elegant nor a very ex- tensive one. Neither is that of Jacob Bell, which is in the same neighborhood ; both bear the marks of age, and of having seen extensive service. If the reader will next accompany me to Manchester, the home of John Dalton, he will perceive that the citizens of this most enterprising of English manufacturing towns have not been unmindful of the name and fame of the author of the Atomic Theory. In front of the City Hospital and Infirmary, on the principal street, stands his statue, and another in the vestibule of the Royal Institute, both of which are considered remark- ably faithful representations. The pharmacy of Manchester seems to present little to re- mark. Their organization is not well sustained. The physicians generally appear to compound their own prescriptions, and as a consequence the science and art are at a low ebb. I visited the store of Thomas Standring, a member of the Council of the Lon- don Society, and one of the most eminent of our profession. This is the only pharmaceutical store I visited in England having a mineral water drawing apparatus on the counter ; it is little used, however, and has no ice-box attached. The principal manufacture of soda water is for bottling ; this is done on the old plan of a force pump, worked by hand. The quality of the article produced is, however, represented as ex- cellent, and a great deal is sold by wholesale as well as drawn from bottles at the counter. Some elegant « galenical" pre- parations were shown me at this establishment, and I observed that the process of displacement is thoroughly understood and prac- tised. None of the remedies put up for sale are labelled with a description of the diseases for which they are prescribed, the reason of which is, that government imposes a tax, assessed in the shape of a stamp, on all medicines so recommended. Among the numerous manufactories visited at Manchester, 16 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. none had a more practical interest for me than the chemical works of Roberts, Dale & Co., Cornbrook Holme. The chief products of this establishment are connected with dyeing and calico printing ; in addition to murexide already spoken off the following are remembered as interesting : — The protochloride and perchloride of tin were made in large earthen vessels adjoining each other ; the N05 used for perox- idizing the metal in preparing the perchloride being decom- posed and given off, as N02 was passed into the other to ac- complish its deoxidation. Oxalic acid is made under their own patent, by calcining together wood and caustic alkali, which produces oxalate of the alkali, a very soluble salt, easily ob- tained in solution, decomposed, and the acid separated and crys- tallized. Nitric acid is distilled in the usual way, liberated from ni- trate of soda by sulphuric acid, and the refuse sulphate of soda is conveyed to another v^orks, where it is converted into carbonate of soda ; the apparatus for distillation is of stone, the receivers being arranged like Woulf's bottles. Large quantities of soap are made in this establishment ; I observed nothing peculiar, how- ever, in the process. An arrangement for the distillation of acetic acid, which they make from acetate of lime of commerce by muriatic acid, struck me as economical of space and very convenient ; from the still, which is near one corner of the room, rises a tube, which passes round the entire wall near the ceiling, at a slight inclination, being surrounded by a closed trough of cold running water, by which the acid is effectually condensed, and poured out at a suitable position into the vessels provided. The acid requires further rectification. The manufacture of starch and British gum is on a large scale. Wheat is the material employed for producing the better qualities of starch ; the flour is fermented, mixed with a large body of water, and transferred to shallow vats, slightly inclined so as to run off the refuse, and allow the pure starch to deposit. The refuse is used as a size by calico printers. Inferior qualities of starch are made from rice and a crude sago found in the London market; the latter requires only bleach- ing ; they are said to lose their gloss more readily by moisture. Blueing starch, which is accomplished by diffusing in it a minute quantity of ultra-marine, improves it for laundry uses. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES ON TRAVEL. 17 British gum is made by pouring a very thin layer of dry starch into a highly heated iron cylinder, twenty feet long by about one foot in diameter, inclined downwards towards the lower ex- tremity, and revolving rapidly so as to prevent charring ; the product which drops out at the lower end, after traversing a sin- gle length of the cylinder, has acquired the properties of a gum, and is extensively employed in finishing textile fabrics. Great quantities of flake white are also produced in these works ; this is a mixture of alum and chalk, and when thrown down with red color, extracted from Brazil wood, constitutes rose pink. Large displacement cylinders are used for extracting oak bark and dye woods; they are connected with the boilers so as to have the advantage of steam pressure, and the decoctions are passed successively through different cylinders filled with the ground wood. The yield of extract by this process was stated to be very large. Before leaving the subject of the last few pages, it becomes me to acknowledge my obligations to a member of this firm, to whom I am indebted for much valuable information, and whose high scientific attainments and practical skill are only equalled by his liberality and freedom from that niggardly reserve so often met with among those who avail themselves of the practi- cal uses of science. Manchester is a great hive of manufacturing industry ; no- where have the applications of science to the wants of civilized man been more thoroughly manifested than in her laboratories and work-shops. These contribute immensely to swell the aggregate of the nation's wealth, and through a prosperous com- merce, to link the Mother Country in lasting friendship with her American offspring. Long may this continue, and long may the people of both nations co-operate in the cause of science and humanity. We now leave Manchester, and having reached a convenient stopping-place, must reserve for a future essay, our Pharmaceuti- cal Notes of Liverpool, Edinburgh, Glasgow, and the far-famed French Capital. 18 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. ON ELIXIR CINCHONA, OR ELIXIR OF CALISAYA BARK, By Alfred B. Taylor. Prof. Procter: — According to your desire I herewith send you for publication the Formula for " Elixir Cinchonae," a pre- paration for which we have recently had a considerable demand. Take of Best Calisaya Bark, . . 3iv. Fresh Orange Peel, . . ^ij. Ceylon Cinnamon, Coriander seed, aa . 3j. Anise seed, Caraway seed, Cardamom seed, Cochineal, aa . . . gij. Brandy, .... Oiiss. Having bruised the articles well, and allowed them to mace- rate for 24 hours in sufficient of the brandy to moisten thorough- ly, transfer to a displacement apparatus, and add the rest of the brandy ; then displace carefully with a mixture of three parts of water and one part of alcohol, until six and a half pints of Tincture are obtained ; to this add two and one half pints of simple syrup, and mix thoroughly. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. By Charles A. Bannvart. Glycerin Water Being frequently requested to make a preparation of glycerin which could not be objected to on ac- count of its adhesive character, I found that a mixture of one drachm of glycerin, with one ounce of rose water, presented an admirable preparation, possessing all the emollient and sooth- ing properties so much needed in excoriations. Its worth is well known to all gentlemen who use it after shaving, and as a cure for chapped hands it is invaluable. Powder to roll pills in. — To the question, " What is the best powder or compound of powders, uniformly to be used in rolling pills, not required to be masked or coated with sugar, gelatin, or other substances," I would answer that all inodorous pills are PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 19 best rolled in lycopodium, because, being very light, extremely fine and smooth, it gives the pills a uniform appearance, and its tasteless and inodorous property is very desirable. Where the bitterness of a pill will be objected to by the palate, it is well to roll them in a mixture of one part of powdered liquorice root, to two parts of lycopodium, which will also give an even surface or coating to the pill, while its taste will be somewhat disguised. For quinine pills, however, finely sifted arrow-root ought to be employed, as it preserves their original white color. Podophyllin. — What is the correct chemical history of Podo- phyllin, as regards its solubility in menstrua, its relations to the alkalies, and other agents, &c, and why may it not be advan- tageously substituted for extract of jalap in the compound cathartic pills, and for scammony in the compound extract of colocynth ? To this question I would say, that Podophyllin is neutral to acid and alkalies ; and as to its solubility, its properties are im- parted to some extent to alcohol, diluted alcohol, water and ether ; but by combining these menstrua and forming a fluid ex- tract, of which I will speak presently, a more satisfactory result is arrived at. Podophyllin, in its effects, acts as an alterative and cathartic, and is especially useful where the idiosyncrasy of a patient's constitution forbids the use of mercurial preparations. It rouses the liver to vigorous action, stimulates the kidneys, pro- motes expectoration, augments the glandular functions, and cleanses the canal of all irritating substances. Its dose, in sub- stance, as a cathartic, is from one to three grains for a grown person ; as an alterative, one-fourth of a grain. I may as well state, that it is entirely from observation that I speak, and several physicians have kindly given it a trial at my request, and in all cases with most satisfactory results. The fluid extract above referred to, was prepared as follows : — Podophyllin, two ounces, ether, alcohol, sp. gr. »848, water, syrup of orange peel aa q. s. 1st. — Displace the Podophyllin, previously mixed with an equal bulk of sand, with ether, until it comes through colorless, and evaporate it spontaneously. 20 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. 2d.— Exhaust with alcohol and evaporate by water-bath to a thin syrupy consistence. 3d. — Next displace to exhaustion with the water, and evapo- rate to a syrupy consistence. Mix these products, decant, in order to leave behind the inert waxy matter, filter, and add enough syrup of orange peel to make the whole measure twelve fluid ounces. Its color is brown, its taste is somewhat acidulous, acrid, its odor like ipecacuanha, and its dose as a cathartic is from half to one fluid drachm ; as an alterative, from ten to twenty drops. Two drachms of it acted with great energy, producing vomiting and active purging. The fluid preparations of Podophyllin, on account of their un- pleasant taste and odor, will never come much into vogue, as the pillular form presents a more desirable mode of administra- tion. Its substitution for scammony in the compound Extract of Oolocynth. — It can readily be substituted, but being stronger in its effects than scammony, one-half of it will answer the same purpose as the whole quantity of the scammony ordered in the formula. While its cost would remain unchanged, its strength would be more uniform, which is not always the case when scammony is employed, owing to the inferior qualities of it used, in the manufacture of this extract. The formula is as follows : Take of Colocynth, sliced and deprived of seeds, six ounces. Aloes, in powder, twelve " Podophyllin, two " Cardamon, in powder, one " Castile soap, three " Diluted alcohol, one gallon. Proceed in the manner directed by the U. S. Ph. Its dose is, like the old extract, from five to thirty grains, according to the constitution of the patient. Podophyllin can likewise be substituted for extract of jalap, in the preparation of the compound cathartic pills ; and while it reduces their size three-fourths of a grain each, their cost will not be augmented, as three drachms of the extract of jalap amounts to as much as the forty five grains of Podophyllin which takes its place. (Only one fourth of Podophyllin is used Oc PHARMACEUTICAL NOTICES. A* - 21 in substituting it for extract of jalap, as its remedial strenj is greater than that of jalap.) The following is the formula : — Take of Comp. Ext. of Colocynth, in powder, half an ounce ; Podophyllin, forty-five grains ; Calomel, three drachms ; Gamboge, in powder, forty grains. Mix them together ; then with water form a mass, to be divided into one hundred and eighty pills. These two preparations, unlike the former, will certainly com- mend themselves to the profession, as the advantage derived from them is apparent, owing to their uniform strength. Two or. three pills administered to an adult, will invariably produce from three to six evacuations, and their operation is perfectly free from any griping. They operate in from three to five hours. Allopathic Sugar Pellets. — Acting upon the suggestion of Mr. Stearns, in his valuable paper published in the last pro- ceedings, I present to the Association the following pellets, not prepared according to so many homoeopathic attenuations, but containing in a compact, agreeable form, the full dose of the different valuable remedies they represent. Aconitia globules, one-hundredth of a grain each. Atropia, « one-fiftieth, " Conia, " one-twentieth, " Digitalin, " one-fiftieth, " Strychnia, " one-thirty- second, " Veratria, " one-sixteenth. " The simple pellets were medicated by saturating them for twenty-four hours in an alcoholic solution of the respective prin- ciples, and agitating them in a shallow capsule until the alco- hol evaporates. Globules may be prepared thus, from all the different active principles, and they would certainly be of great service to the physician, as he could carry, in a small space, all the important drugs he is now obliged to have in large, cumbersome bottles. My reason for employing active principles instead of saturated tinctures or fluid extracts was, to preserve as much as possible 22 WILD CHERRY PASTILS. the white color of the globules, thus making them pleasing to the eye. Note.— In their administration, the physician should be very careful to note their progress. One is the dose to begin with, which may be gradually increased, according to the nature of the case. Harrisburg, Pa., Nov. 1858. WILD CHERRY PASTILS. Ustee?ned Editor, — Below I give a formula for wild cherry lo- zenges as I have prepared them, which may perhaps be accept- able to readers of the Journal. I think they will be found possessed of no pretended merit, nor need they be regarded as a confection, or as an excuse for a remedy, as lozenges of the kind usually are. R>. — Cortex Pruni Virginians, ibj. Amygdalae Dulcis, ^iij. Ext. Scillae Acet., gij. Tinct Tolu, f.gi. Pulv. Acaciae, 3iv. Aquae, ) Sp. Vin. Beet, \ m ^ S" Reduce the wild cherry to a coarse powder, and extract by percolation, with a sufficiency of the alcoholic menstruum ; the resulting alcoholic tincture evaporate carefully by a gentle heat to a syrupy consistence, in which dissolve the ext. squills. Add the tinct. tolu to the sugar, intimately mix, expose it to a moderate heat to expel the alcohol ; blanch the almonds, and reduce in a mortar to a uniform pasty consistence ; add the gum and the sugar, to which the balsam tolu has previously been added, and lastly, with this, thoroughly mix the ext, of wild cherry and squills, and water sufficient to make the proper consistency. Make pastils, each to contain fifteen grains. In this preparation we have associated with the squill and tolu all the valuable constituents of the wild cherry bark in a concentrated form, without any of the inert matter. In the CITRATE OP IRON AND STRYCHNIA. 23 process is involved Prof. Procter's suggestion for the development of the hydrocyanic acid of the bark, by the reaction between the emulsin of the almonds and the alcoholic extract, and thus we are enabled to obtain a concentrated medicine of the valuable wild cherry. Each pastil contains the equivalent of seven and a half grains of the wild cherry bark, one-half grain of squill and tolu, equal, or more, to the proportion contained by the ordinary syrup of tolu. A simple pastil may be prepared by omitting the squill and tolu. Wm. R. Warner, Phila. Nov. 2, 1858. 2d and Girard Avenue. CITRATE OF IRON AND STRYCHNIA. By the Editor. j At a former page of this Journal, we suggested a formula for citrate of iron and strychnia, in which the proportion of strych- nia was to the citrate of iron as one to forty-eight. Since then, Messrs. Rosengarten & Sons have been supplying this empyrically constituted salt to the trade. In appearance this salt is the same as the citrate of iron, but in taste, beside the pe- culiar, slightly ferruginous taste of that salt, is a moderate bit- terness, due to the strychnia, not, however, so decided as one would be led to suppose. One reason for again alluding to this subject, is to bring forward the following letter from a sub- scriber, and to suggest, that in a preparation containing strych- nia there should be no variation of strength, as made by one manufacturer and another. Our readers will perceive that Mr. Heinitsh makes the salt of just one-half the strychnia strength, on the ground that a larger proportional dose of iron is considered more desirable in the cases to which the salt is applied, which would make the dose of one-sixteenth of a grain of strychnia in about six grains of the salt. We should be pleased to hear the opinions of our medical cotemporaries on this thera- peutic point, that it may decide the course of apothecaries who may be called on to prepare the salt. The remarks of Mr. Heinitsh corroborate those of Dr. O'Connor, in the paper to which our first notice was appended. 24 SOLUBILITY OF STRYCHNIA IN WATER, ETC. Lancaster, December 13th, 1858. To the Editor of the American Joxirnal of Pharmacy. ' Dear Sir : — In the May number of the Journal, p. 276, (1858) you suggest a formula for citrate of iron and strychnia, the ratio of 1 to 48. 1 have since August last prepared a considerable quantity, which has been used by Dr. Charles L. Baker, with very great success, in the treatment of chlorosis, especially when dependent on mental emotions, or where there has been a total suppression of the menses from any ex- citement. I, however, prepare it in the ratio of 1 to 100, and it is prescribed in conjunction with Tr. Chiretta, or Tr. Chiretta and Fluid Ext. Valerian; the minimum dose of the citrate being 3 grains, which can be increased to 5 or 6, or perhaps further, should there be a necessity for more iron, without giving too large a quantity of the strychnia. Not knowing whether the next number of the Journal will contain any articles on this new and I believe very excellent therapeutic re- medy, may I as& whether you will prepare an article for publication ? If so, it will be received with great pleasure and profit by the numerous readers of the Journal, and by Yours truly, Charles Heinjtsh. ON THE SOLUBILITY OF STEYCHNIA IN WATER AND ALCOHOL. Ed Am. Journal of Pharmacy : — Respected Friend, After considerable hesitation, and lapse of time since the ex- periments were commenced, we have concluded to call attention, through the columns of your Journal, to a seeming discrepancy between the statements of Wood & Bache, page U95, U. S. D., upon the solubility of Strychnia, and the results of some expe- riments instituted to substantiate those statements. During a conversation upon the properties of Strychnia, Dr. Haughton, of this city, stated upon the authority of a Pharma- ceutist (?) residing here, that it was readily soluble in both water and alcohol. (On inquiring into the method the said pharma- ceutist employed in producing his solutions, we found that he placed the strychnia in the solvent, permitted it to remain a few hours, then filtered, and of course had fine, clear solutions(?) to exhibit.) Not feeling satisfied to permit our standard authority to be thus set at nought, we instituted some experiments, resulting as follows : 1 gr. strychnia in 1 f.g. water, dissolved sufficiently to render the water somewhat bitter, but as nearly as we can ascertain SOLUBILITY OF STRYCHNIA IN WATER, ETC. 25 by drying and weighing the residue, no appreciable weight is lost, (our scales turning readily with one-tenth gr.) 1 gr. cryst. strychnia, in 1 f.^. each of officinal and absolute alcohol, in from five to eight days. 1 and 4-5ths gr. cryst. strych. in 1 f.3 absolute alcohol dis- solved entirely in sixteen days. i gr. in 1 f.^ ether dissolved in two or three days. 1 gr. in 1 f.g glycerin dissolved completely, all without the friendly aid of filtering paper. Our experiments seem to indicate that strychnia, in crystals, without the aid of heat or agitation, is soluble in about 387 parts officinal alcohol ; 179 parts absolute alcohol, and 682 parts ether. The U. S. D., page 1195, says, " It is soluble in 6667 parts water at 50° * * * Boiling officinal alcohol dissolves it readily, but deposits it on cooling. Absolute alcohol and ether dissolve it very sparingly." Do we interpret this language correctly in supposing them to mean strychnia is insoluble in officinal alcohol, and less solu- ble in absolute alcohol and ether than in water. If so, then our experiments and theirs conflict materially, but as we are young and unknown, we would respectfully ask some of you to testify in our behalf, if your experiments will bring you to the same conclusions. It may be well enough to state that the full solvent powers of officinal alcohol and glycerin were not ascertained. Should you deem this worthy of a place in your columns, please insert it. If our conclusions are false, you will confer a favor by destroying them. Respectfully, Plummer & Kelly.* [ *Note. — This communication was received as we were in press, and too late to attempt to verify or disprove the statements it contains. We there- fore reserve any comment until our next issue. — Ed. Am. Journ.Pha.rm.] 26 ON EXTRACTUM FERRI POMATUM. ON EXTRACTUM FERRI POMATUM. By J. M. Maisch. On the continent of Europe, a preparation is officinal in most Pharmacopoeias, the virtues of which> reside in the malate of iron which it contains. As many European physicians in this country habitually employ it, and neither the United States nor any of the British Pharmacopoeias recognize it, it may perhaps not be out of place to say a few words here about the mode of prepar- ing it and its medicinaluse. Extractum Ferri Pomatum, Extr. Malatis Ferri, or Ext. Ferri Malici, is prepared by digesting one part of iron with from four to sixteen parts of unripe very tart apples, mashed to a pulp, or their expressed juice, for the space of several days, then express- ing the mass, straining the liquor and evaporating it to the consistency of an extract. In selecting a method for its prepa- ration, preference should be given to the employment of the pulp of apples, as in this case a closer and more continued contact with the iron is insured ; and on occasionally stirring the mass, atmospheric air is admitted and retained by the pulp, whereby the oxidation of the iron is promoted. By most Pharmacopoeias, pure iron filings are ordered, but that of Prussia, probably fear- ing a contamination with copper, directs iron wire, though from the presence of copper in the filings it should hardly be inferred that this poisonous metal could be retained in solution, as the large excess of iron must precipitate it during its long contact with the pulpy mass ; besides, if the neutral liquor is heated to the boiling point the dissolved copper will be partly precipitated as an insoluble basic malate of copper. Such an impurity, however, for the reason stated before, cannot occur if the manipulation has been conducted right, and the employment of otherwise clean iron filings is therefore admissible. Another, and the most im- portant point in which the Pharmacopoeias differ, is the subse- quent treatment of the expressed and strained liquor during the process of inspissation. While some Pharmacopoeias direct it to be conducted in an iron vessel to the thickness of an extract, others order to boil the liquor for some time in an iron vessel, strain it and afterwards evaporate it to the proper consistency a porcelain dish. By the first of these methods it is evident ON EXTRACTUM EERRI POMATUM. 27 that the iron will be retained in the state of protoxide while the same object is accomplished by the second method until the evaporation is carried on in a porcelain dish, when an oxida- tion of at least a part of the iron to sesquioxide is unavoidable. The extract is very often given in solution, by itself, and as an addition to mixtures ; it is therefore desirable to have it in such a state as to form a perfect solution of such a stability as not to cause a precipitate of oxide of iron, or otherwise to deteri- orate. The malate of the protoxide of iron is hardly known yet, but is said not to be so easily soluble as the same salt of the ses- quioxide of iron, and in accordance with that chief object of ob- taining an extract of perfect solubility and stability, it must be aimed at to get rid of all those constituents of apple juice, which like albumen, would tend to deterioration, and to obtain much of the iron in the state of sesquioxide. All this is gained by the latter part of the process of the Prussian Pharmacopoeia, which directs an evaporation in a porcelain dish at a temperature which would coagulate albumen, and a redissolving of the extract, fil- tering and again evaporating. The extract prepared in this way is of a greenish black color, is entirely soluble in water, without forming any precipitate on standing or on exposure to the air ; it contains both proto- and sesquioxide, probably the magnetic Ox- ide of iron. The directions of the Prussian Pharmacopoeia may therefore be followed with some slight modifications, and the pro- cess will then be as follows : Take of unripe apples, peeleds'and mashed to a pulp 6 lbs ; clean iron filings Jib, mix and digest, stirring occasionally until the pulp has but a slight acid reaction, express the liquor, strain and evap- orate it at a temperature not exceeding 163° F., stirring con- stantly to the consistence of an extract ; redissolve this in four times its weight of distilled water, filter and again evaporate with the precaution mentioned, to the proper consistence. The liquid preparation of this extract is called Tinctura Ferr Pomati s. Pomata, and is obtained by dissolving one part of the ex- tract in six parts by weight of vinous cinnamon water, which con- tains nearly J its weight of alcohol. This tincture is of a green- ish black color, with a brown tinge and of a sweetish, slightly stiptic taste; it remains clear without separating any sediment. The active constituent of these preparations is the malate of iron, mixed with some sugar and extractive matter ; it is one of 28 ON THE MEDICINAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. the very mildest chalybeates, only slightly astringent, easily digestible and assimilated, and for these reasons has been and still is highly esteemed in Europe, and is much employed for all diseases which require a mild ferruginous remedy ; the only draw- back, if it may be considered as such, and which from the nature of the preparation cannot be avoided, is the uncertainty of the amount of iron it contains, as prepared from different apples and from apples of varying maturation ; this variableness, however, is partly counteracted by the second dissolving and evaporation of the extract. The fact of its being a salt of malic acid, which is an ingredient in many wholesome fruits, might be an induce- ment to try its effects, inasmuch as the pure acid, and likewise the salts prepared from it, would command so high a price as to exclude almost all possibility of making use of the same in medi- cine. All those chemical and pharmaceutical preparations which are incompatible with the iron salts generally, are also incompatible with the impure malate of iron ; acids, especially the mineral and stronger organic acids, and their acid salts, set the malic acid free ; the salts of many of the heavy metals, zinc, lead, mer- cury, silver, form insoluble precipitates ; remedies containing tan- nic acid are inadmissible on account of the precipitation of tan- nate of iron, but caustic alkalies and their carbonates do not pre- cipitate the oxide of iron, and are therefore chemically not in. compatible with this preparation. The dose of the extract is from about 5 to 10 grains ; of the tinctures from 30 to 60 drops several times a day in the form of pills and mixture. Philadelphia, December 1858. EXTRACTS FROM A REPORT ON THE MEDICAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. By F. Stearns. Abies balsamea. Balsam of Fir. Abies Canadensis. Hemlock, or Hemlock Spruce. Abies nigra. Black Spruce. Trees of the order Pinaceae abound in the greatest profusion throughout both peninsulas, especially in the north ; the A. bal- ON THE MEDICAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. 29 samea forms one of the most beautiful of ornamental shade trees, from its perfect proportions and graceful form ; its juice, which is so much employed as a stimulant, expectorant, and vulnery, is collected in the northern peninsula, by the Ojibway Indians to some extent, but more profitably by the attachees of the Hud- son's Bay Co. The Indian method of collecting it is very prim- itive, and consists of piercing the external hardened coating of the blister-like exudations of juice, and receiving the contents in bottles. Prepared in this way, it is of a beautiful, clear, light- straw color, and of a pleasant, aromatic odor. The A. Canadensis, besides a valuable timber, yields a bark important to the tanner, the inner portion of which is often used in medicine for its astringency, and also the commercial oils of hemlock and spruce, and hemlock gum, or Canada pitch. The habitat of this tree is usually near streams, and in swampy spots, growing with the tamarac, from which it is easily distinguished by the fact of its losing its leaves in the spring, while the latter loses them in the fall. There are two methods of collecting the resin of the hemlock, one of which consists of cutting cup-like incisions into the body of the living tree, and removing the soft resin as it exudes ; the other, and most common one, is to remove the wood and bark around the knobs or knots of the felled trees, which are rich in resin ; these being placed in water in a large kettle, the resin is boiled out, and rising upon the top is skimmed off and further purified by remeltingand straining. The product of this method is not so good as that by the former one, the heat to which it is exposed necessarily driving off much of the essential oil. Not content, however, with making this gum by an inferior method, the collectors often put their gums into market sophisticated with common resin to the extent of seventy per cent. The com. mercial oils of spruce and hemlock are one and the same thing ; and are distilled from the boughs of the Abies Canadensis. The mode of proceeding is as follows, related to me by Mr. David Bales, of Livingston County, who does a large business in distil- ling the oil. The trees are cut dowTn and the boughs collected only ; these are cut up fine and subjected to a distillation with water, in a portable copper still and worm, capable of holding about one hundred gallons, which is so arranged that it can be transported in the woods, and erected quickly upon a temporary \ 30 OF THE MEDICAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. arch ; two pails full of boughs (about 8 lbs.) are calculated to yield one ounce of oil, or about three pints to one running of the still, which occupies from thirteen to twenty-four hours, according to circumstances, (fuel, wind, etc.) The distilling is done only in winter, when the tree is richest in oil, and labor is cheapest ; the price which the oil brings in market, is from twenty-five to forty cents per pound, upon the average. I understand that large quantities of hemlock oil are distilled in Madison Co., New York ; I believe the Association a year or so ago asked in- formation upon the manufacture of hemlock oil without success. The younger branches of the hemlock spruce are employed in domestic practice for making stimulating fomentations. From the A. nigra is made the essence of spruce, from which spruce beer was formerly made ; I believe the leaves can be used for the same purpose. Carya amara. Bitter-nut Hickory. " poroina. Pig-nut Hicory. " sulcata. Shellbark Hickory. Ind.; abundant in S. of L. P.* Besides the value of this genus as timber, the leaves are aromatic and astringent, and the bark contains evidently a valuable bitter (tonic) principle, as may be inferred from the following. Mr. Caflinbury, of Constantine, St. Joseph Co., in a communication to me upon another subject, states as follows : " I think I have discovered that the inner bark of the common wild hickory (probably C. amara, F. S.) possesses an active stimulant and tonic virtue, that may be U3ed successfully as a febrifuge. But not being a physician or pharmaceutist, and never having had an opportunity of making a scientific analysis of its chemical nature, I am not prepared to speak with certainty, and base my opinion upon experience, a few incidents of which I will present. Ten years ago I was af- flicted with indigestion, attended with its usual concomitants, acidity of the stomach, morbid appetite, flatulency, diarrhoea, etc. I attributed this to the habitual use of tobacco, which, if not the prime cause of the disease, was an agent in its aggrava- tion. As a substitute for the tobacco I selected the inner bark of the hickory on account of its pungent, saccharine and drastic qualities, I soon found my health improving, and that although *L. P. Lower Peninsular; U, P. Upper Peninsular, OF THE MEDICAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. 31 I resumed and continued the use of tobacco, I was rarely visited with indigestion ; and if occasionally visited with the symptons, from having over eaten or having eaten of too rich or unwhole- some food, that to chew the hickory bark and swallow its juice it would stimulate the stomach to action and correct the gastric fluid. This success led me to prepare a strong fluid tincture of the bark, by cutting it small and putting it into pale Otard brandy. My children (three of them) were at the time sick with the dis- ease then prevalent in this region, arising from malarious at- mosphere, and known as chill fever. I gave them of this tinc- ture three times a day, and in two days they were well. The next year I gave it to them after the first paroxysms, and a se- cond one did not occur ; since then I have used no other reme- dy in my family for ague, fever and other bilious diseases, and al- ways with like success. Upon my recommendation many others have used it with like success. Many have steeped the bark and have used the infusion thus obtained, instead of the tincture. Infusion in water seems to dissolve the active matter, as the tea thus made produced the same effect as did the tincture. From this experience, I am led to believe that an extract might be obtained from the bark of the hickory tree that would take the place of quinia in the treatment of bilious diseases, re- sulting from the derangement or morbid action of the liver, and the digestive system generally. The genus Carya belongs to the order Juglandacese, of which the family Juglans are employed in medicine, but the authori- ties do not give any medical power to the Carya at all, and it may be that Mr. Caffinbury's experience is valuable to the pro- fession. G-aultheria procumbens. Wintergreen. This beautiful little plant is ind,, and exceedingly abundant throughout the upper portion of L. P., and the whole of the U. P. ; so much so, that in many townships it covers the ground al- most to the exclusion of the ordinary grasses and common wild plants ; its delicately colored and flavored berry, in spring, forms the favorite food for a great variety of feathered creatures, and it is apparent that the distillation of the essential oil could be most profitably carried on in this State by means of the porta- 32 ON THE MEDICAL PLANTS OF MICHIGAN. ble still", mentioned under the head of Abies, for distilling oil of hemlock. Large quantities of the berries are annually offered for sale in Detroit, and are simply eaten as a relish. The unu- sual abundance of this plant has occasioned a great variety of names being applied to it ; one gentleman jokingly stated, that he seriously thought of publishing a small quarto volume of them. The following are a few of them, as employed by the people in the Wintergreen districts : Partridge Berry, Deer Berry, Aro- matic Wintergreen, Three-leaved Wintergreen, Teaberry, Check- erberry, Roxberry, Wintergreen, Common Wintergreen, Pigeon Berry, Mountain Tea, etc. The berries and leaves are both used for their pleasant aro- matic, stimulating powers, but the essential oil is the product most used, and by which only is it known in medicine. Vlmus fulva. Slippery Elm or Red Elm. Ind. The U. fulva is very abundant throughout the middle and south of L. P. Hundreds of tons of the valuable inner bark of this tree are collected and sent East every year from our State. The following is a statement of the manner of curing, etc., this bark, as related by a person who makes it a livelihood* The Indian name in Michigan is Sharscope ; time to commence collecting is 15th of May, continuing about six weeks. Best way to dry the bark is to nail up the large pieces in a room heated by a stove, or else in the direct sunlight. Must be kept from rains and dew. Requires about three days to thoroughly dry in favorable circumstances. The larger trees afford the most brittle and thick white bark, which if white brings the high- est price, but which is not best for medicinal use, as the tough, stringy, thin bark affords the best and most mucilage. About half the weight of the green bark is wasted in drying. The Indians are usually paid one cent per pound for collecting the green bark, and the price of the bark when brought into market varies from five to ten dollars per cwt. In grinding the tough bark it yields two-thirds of its weight of superfine flour, and the balance is coarse ligneous powder suitable for cataplasms. I believe that considerable slippery elm bark is exported. Proceedings Am. Pharm. Association. —1^8. THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. 33 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. By Frederick Stearns, of Detroit. You are all aware how conspicuous a place is occupied in our list of the Materia Medica by the essential oils, and doubt- less that, of those largely produced in the United States, the oil of the Mentha Piperita is the most important, both in its relation to Medicine and to Commerce ; and I further venture to say that, among those essential oils, there is no one of them concerning which so little is generally known of its history, cul- ture, and production, as of this of which my paper treats. The Association having invited reports from its members upon subjects of similar character, I trust that the following remarks, which relate more particularly to the introduction of the culture of peppermint into Michigan, the methods there employed for growing the plant, and the processes of distilling its oil, may prove of interest and value. For the last ten years, the largest proportion of the oil of peppermint produced in the world, has been sent from one county (St. Joseph) in the south-western part of Michigan. The plant was cultivated for its oil in New York and in Ohio for many years previous to its first introduction into this State, but, from want of sufficient and authentic data, I am unable to give you any account of its early cultivation in those States, and will therefore confine my remarks, principally, to that por- tion of its history and culture which relates to the State in which I reside. It was first introduced into St. Joseph County in 1835, by Calvin Sawyer, who brought the roots from Ohio, and made the first plantation on Pigeon Prairie, in the township of White Pigeon. In the spring of 1836, two farmers, named White and Earl, procuring roots from Calvin Sawyer, made plantations on the same prairie, and in the same township. In 1837, the number of plantations was increased by others ; and in 1838, Marshal Craw and Lewis Ranney commenced its culture on burr oak soil, in Florence township of the same county. In the soil of these burr oak openings, as they are termed (being rich, loamy, and gently undulating, covered here and there with a scant growth of the burr, or scrub oak), the Mint was 34 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OP MICHIGAN. found to produce better than on the prairie soil, where it not only required more labor to cultivate it, but was often unprofit- able, from the roots being winter-killed, occasioned by the snow being blown off the level fields, and thus exposing the ground to the influence of the frost ; its cultivation being aban- doned on the prairies, it was thereafter limited to the township of Florence, where it has principally been cultivated ever since, there being but little over one hundred acres employed in Mint, outside of St. Joseph County, in the whole State. During the first year of its production, the oil was purchased by the village merchants, and exchanged in New York City for merchandise suited to their trade. As the product increased, these merchants acted as agents for eastern dealers, who bought, sold or exported it, shipping it to Europe, where it was principally disposed of in the Liverpool market. The Mint oil being a fancy product, and not a substantial staple commodity of commerce, the surplus, after our own and the European market was supplied, was of little value until there occurred a new demand. Asa natural consequence, competi- tion in speculation upon its purchase and sale in the City of New York became hazardous, there being many houses more or less engaged in the business. At this time (about 1844) the house of Patterson, Stone & Co., in that city, adopted the fol- lowing enterprise, with the view of monopolizing the trade in Mint oil : This house first sent an agent to Europe, to determine the amount of the demand in the Liverpool market. This he did, and ascertained it to be about 12,000 pounds per annum. They then sent another agent west, to determine the amount of the product annually. This agent found plantations in Wayne and other counties in Western New York ; others still larger in the counties of Ashtabula, Geauga, and Cuyahoga, Ohio ; and final- ly those of Florence in this State. The plantations in New York did not produce enough, those in Ohio too much, and those in Florence just about the quantity required to supply the Liverpool market. He consequently entered into contract with the producers in New York and Ohio, whereby he bound them under heavy penalties to plow up their Mint fields, and destroy the roots, and not plant any more Mint or sell or give THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. 35 away any roots, or produce or sell any Mint oil for the period of five years, and paid them one dollar and fifty cents per acre as a bonus for so doing. He then contracted with the produ- cers of St. Joseph County to pay them two dollars and fifty cents for their Mint oil, delivered at such agencies as he estab- lished in the county for that purpose, for a like period of five years, binding them under heavy forfeitures not to sell roots to any one, not to extend their own plantations themselves, and to deliver every ounce of Mint oil produced by them to the agents under the contract. These contracts continued to be observed for about three years, by the producers, when the house having gained the desired end of this monopoly, a large fortune, ceased to enforce the contracts, which, by this time, were not greatly regarded or observed by the producers. By this time, also many of the producers had amassed fortunes from their Mint product, retired from the business, and seeded down their farms ; other fields had run out, and new ones converted into Mint fields; the production of the oil again became general, and has since continued so, but limited mostly to Florence. I will now proceed to state the method of culture, and the minutiae concerning the distillation of the oil. The Peppermint plant requires a deep, rich, warm soil. The opening lands of Southern Michigan, which are mixed with sand, black loam, and some clay, are most productive in oil, if not in quantity of herb to the acre. The ground is prepared by deep plowing and harrowing, as for oats, potatoes, or other summer products, in early spring, say from the middle of April to the 20th of May, or as soon as an acre or so can be plowed to commence with, in order to get the roots of the Mint planted before they begin to sprout. The ground is furrowed as for potatoes, with the furrows fifteen, eighteen, or twenty-four inches apart. The roots are prepared by plowing up an old field of Mint ground, from which they are raked out with rakes, potato hooks, etc., loaded on a wagon like a load of straw, and drawn to the new Mint ground. The best roots are taken from fields planted the preceding year, and it requires about one acre of such to furnish roots enough to plant ten acres anew. The planter goes to the stack of Mint-roots in the corner of the field, or wherever they may have been deposited, fills a bag half full 36 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. of them (which are light), swings it over his neck, and under his left arm ; taking a bunch of roots from the bag, he holds it in his left hand, passes along a furrow, tearing off a root, or a small parcel of the roots, as is most convenient, from the bunch in his left hand, he drops it, or them, into the furrow, covering them with his right foot, and stepping on them with his left one, as he proceeds. It is an object to plant the roots so thick in the furrow as to form a continuous connection, or chain. This is called » setting Mint." A man will set from half to three-quarters of an acre in a day. As soon as the Mint is seen above ground, usually in three or four weeks, the horse and cultivator (the common corn culti- vator) are introduced, and followed by the hoe. This process is repeated twice or three times. When the Mint has grown and spread to the size of rows of beach leaves or half grown po- tatoes, the hoe is again plied for the last time, in the early part of August, and this completes the culture of the crop. This keeps down the indigenous weeds, and when the mower goes into the field, in the latter part of the same month, he finds the ground nearly, if not entirely, covered with Mint. The cutting and distilling commences about the 25th of Au- gust, and continues until the 1st of October, during which period the plant is in full inflorescence, and the lower leaves begin to growT sere. If the season has been unusually dry, and there comes a rain, the Mint is allowed to stand from one to three weeks longer than if otherwise, as it is rendered more produc- tive of oil — wet seasons being considered more favorable than dry ones. It is cut the first year by a cradle with two fingers, and grass scythe. It is raked together in small cocks, where it is suffered to wilt ten or twelve hours. If convenient, wilt- ing the plant, besides increasing the yield of oil slightly, enables the operator to get it more compactly into a smaller compass. From the cock, it is taken to the distillery, which will be hereafter described. The next year there is nothing to do to the Mint field but to cut and distill its product. During this (the second year), a few weeds make their appearance, but not to the injury of the crop, though the most careful of the Mint-growers go through their fields, and destroy them as much as possible. The second THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. 37 year the stalk or stem of the Mint is coarse, and the leaves not so abundant as before, so that the second crop is not so produc- tive as the first. The third year there is nothing to do but to harvest and dis- till the Mint. The stem is coarser than before, and the leaves still less abundant. The weed this year abounds, and if not re- moved and destroyed (a task involving much labor), half or more of the product of the field is weed, and the yield of oil and herb consequently reduced to one-half, or less than one-half, that of the first year. The fourth year, the field is plowed up early in the spring. This, in a measure kills the weed, (this " renewing," as it is called, is sometimes done the third year, and every following third year until the field is employed for other crops,) the bro- ken roots send up new and tender shoots, and a fair crop is again obtained without any further labor than plowing the field. The fifth year, without any further attention, produces a crop equal to the second ; after which, the field is pastured and reclaimed for other crops. The first year produces the best quality of oil, the highest yield per acre, and the greatest yield to the quantity of herb. Some few Mint-farmers raise the plant from the seed, care- fully cultivating the ground, and protecting the young shoots from the early frosts, the Mint not being cut until the second year of its growth from the seed. Those who operate in this manner, usually re-set their fields every two years, planting them with new Mint, raised in a nursery, from the seed. Others still, plant the roots in the fall, after the crop is gathered, cul- tivate and hoe it in the spring following, until it reaches the height of a foot or so. After the crop is gathered, the Mint stubble is again plowed under, and harvested the second season without cultivating or hoeing. The weed which has been mentioned is the only one the plan- ter has to contend with after the first year's cultivation, and there is no means of entirely subduing it. After the first year, the Mint roots, which naturally tend to the surface, and the stems, which naturally tend to seek the earth, and root in it 38 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. from the joints, form a superficial network over the whole field, suppressing every other weed, and leaving no means of subduing this weed, without injuring the crop. This weed is known by the several names of Horse-tail weed, Qows-tail, Mares-tail, Fieldbroom, Bitterweed, and Fireweed; its botanical name, Er#ch- ■ thites liieracifolius. It grows throughout the United States in moist woods, and in the rank soil of recent clearings ; its odor is peculiar, and somewhat disagreeable, depending upon a volatile oil. It is employed somewhat in medicine, particularly by the Eclectics. This plant, after it gains a foothold in the Mint field, the third year, is accompanied by June grass, both of which are cut with the Mint and go into the process of dis- tillation with it. The Fireweed yields an essential oil of no value, which is pungent and somewhat bitter. It is the only plant which grows with the Mint that yields an essential oil. It is somewhat difficult to detect in the Mint oil, unless mixed in the ratio of more than fifty per cent., except by the specific gravity of the mixed oil ; the pure Fireweed oil requires eigh- teen fluid ounces to weigh one pound avoirdupois, L e. a quantity of weed oil equal to one pound of Mint oil in bulk weighs but fourteen ounces avoirdupois. It will be seen from the foregoing that this weed oil finds its way into a very large proportion of the oil of Peppermint pro- duced, either by accident or design. It has indeed often been used by unscrupulous persons and producers in adulterating their Mint oil ; some have been known to distill it pure, for that purpose, from the weed gathered in waste fields and fallow grounds. The Fireweed oil, spirits of turpentine and high proof alcohol constitute the only materials known, that are used in adulterat- ing the pure Mint oil ; though it may be presumed that bland fixed oils are often used for the same purpose. The odor, and less specific gravity of the weed oil best serves to detect its presence in Mint oil, as also that of turpentine. Washing it with water will remove the greater portion of the alcohol from oil adulterated with it. Any fixed oil contaminating it, is de- tected by the greasy stain such mixed oil leaves upon paper, and is removed by re distillation. The specific gravity of pure oil Peppermint when fresh is 0-902. THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. 39 It is usually of a pale yellow color, sometimes almost white, or of a slight greenish tint; as it grows old it becomes more or less oxidized, and assumes a reddish color. The precautions necessary to produce a superior product, both as to quantity and quality, are — 1st. To distill, from new or young Mint, the first crop of rich and well cultivated land. 2d. Tight and well constructed apparatus. 3d. Cutting, wilting, and distilling the plant in still dry weather, as much oil may escape, on account of its great vola- tility, before it reaches the still, in windy weather, and before it can be wilted in damp, cloudy, or rainy weather. The pro- cess of distilling is facilitated much by wilting the herb, as the bulk being thereby reduced from one-third to one-half, the greater quantity can be compressed into the same capacity of the vessel used in the process of distillation. 4th. Good dry and well-preserved fuel is necessary, which, from its great combustibility, will generate steam the most ra- pidly. The apparatus used in distilling the oil is — 1st. A boiler with a flat bottom of boiler iron, and a circular top of sheet iron. The boiler is about nine feet in length, and thirty inches in diameter, with three flues six inches each in di- ameter. The boiler is set upon a brick arch, which receives the fuel. 2d. A well and hand-pump to supply the boiler and other ap- paratus hereinafter described. 3d. A round tub, made of pine or whitewood staves, hooped with iron bands ; the staves from one and a half to two inches thick, the tub four feet six inches deep, and six feet in diameter. This tub is set up from the ground from three to six inches, on bricks or wooden blocks ; one-half or one-third of the top, or head, is constructed with the tub — that is, it is set in a groove in the staves like a barrel head, leaving an aperture of half or two-thirds of the circumference of the top. To this aperture is fitted a movable lid, which shuts down tightly, and can be, when shut down, made steam-tight by means of oakum stuffing. 4th. A cooler ; being a large tub, set two feet from the ground, filled with water, and containing a worm of tinned- 40 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. iron, about one hundred feet long, the lower end of which pro- jects through one side of the cooler, about three inches from the bottom ; the upper end of the worm connects by a pipe of similar material, with the top of the first described tub, which tub is called "the steam tub," or "still." 5th. A receiver of tin, placed under the opening of the lower end of the worm. The receiver is eighteen inches deep, and ten inches in diameter ; from the bottom of this there issues a dis- charging pipe at an angle of about 25°, similar to the spout of a coffee pot, and extends at that angle to its extremity, which stands at an elevation of an inch or two below the top of the re- ceiver. A tube or pipe extends from the top of the boiler to the bottom of the steam tub, or still. The whole structure is generally covered with a temporary shed, for protection against the weather — this covering being open upon the sides. Underneath the covering is erected a plank floor, twelve or fifteen feet square, to receive the Mint. This floor stands at a level with the top of the steam tub, or still. After the boiler has been supplied with water, the fire is started in the arch, the Mint has been drawn in from the cock, and deposited on the plank floor, from whence it is pitched with a hay fork into the still, and packed down as it is thrown in, by one of the hands, who goes into the tub for that purpose, and packs it with his feet until the still can receive no more. This is called a "charge." The movable lid is then adjusted, and the steam applied from the boiler. The essential oil of the Mint passes with the steam into the worm ; is condensed with it,* and passes into the receiver, where it rises to the top of the water. As the receiver gets filled, the water constantly escapes by the spout, while the oil is dipped off, and placed in cans ready to receive it. When the charge is exhausted, and yields no more oil, the steam is shut off ; the lid of the steam tub, or still, thrown open, and the reeking contents removed with hay forks. This is called " Mint straw." Horned cattle and sheep are * By exhausting each charge as rapidly as possible, by using steam under as high a pressure as the strength of the boiler will warrant, it is found that though the yield of oil is lessened, it is nearly colorless and of a firm odor. THE PEPPEEMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. 41 fond of it, and will subsist upon it through the winter. It is thrown into large piles about the Mint still, after being dried, or else drawn into barns, where it lies till fed to the cattle in the winter. The oil cans are made of the best tinned-iron, after the model of the tin powder cans, and contain each twenty pounds of oil. In these cans the oil is shipped, the small aperture at the top being soldered. Three, four, or five cans are placed in a case, the tops of which are sloped like a house roof. There are now in this State about 2100 acres employed in producing the Mint plant, all of which, except about one hun- dred, are in the county of St. Joseph. It produces in oil, per acre, as follows : Maximum . . . ♦ . 20 lb. av. Minimum 2 « Average . . . 7 " In England, at Mitcham, where the Mint plant is raised in richly manured land, the average yield is stated to be 17i lbs. to the acre. Upon the plantations of the Messrs. Hotchkiss in Western New York, the average yield is said to be 20 lbs. The average product per annum in this State has been as fol- lows, from the commencement to the present time : Maximum 30,000 lbs. Minimum 8,000 « Average 15,000 « The crops vary, for several reasons. That of 1855 was large, being 30,000 pounds ; the dry season following, it was reduced one sixth, i. e. to 25,000 pounds ; and the severe cold of the winter of '56 and '57, by killing the roots, reduced the crop to \ one-half that of '55, it being variously estimated from 12,000 to \ 15,000 pounds. \ The prices obtained by producers of the oil have been as fol- lows : Highest price per lb. ... $4.00 Lowest price per lb. ... 1.25 Average price per lb. . . 2.37 Thve having been as much sold at $1.25 as at $4.00, the ave- rages taken between $1.75 and $3.00, the usual prices. The 42 THE PEPPERMINT PLANTATIONS OF MICHIGAN. prices ranged somewhat as following : 1844 to 1847, at $2.50 ; 1847 to 1852, at $1.50 ; 1853, at $2.00 ; 1854, at $4.00 ; 1855 ; at $3.50 ; 1856, at $2.50 ; 1857, the crop of which is yet par- tially unsold, from $2.00 to $2.50. The land, with its improvements, is valued from $30 to $35 per acre. The cost of cultivating a Mint field the first year is $22 per acre ; and for the succeeding three years, $5 a year per acre. The following statement will show an approximation to the amount of capital invested in this industry in our State, and its returns : 2100 acres of Land and Improvements are valued at $75,000 Total average value of Oil to producers . . . 37,500 Total cost of Production, including interest upon $75,000 at 7 per cent 24,000 Profit to producers 13,500 This profit is over one-third the receipts for the oil, and 18 per cent, upon the capital employed. Assuming that there are 500 acres in Mint plant in Western New York, and 500 acres in Ohio, which, I presume, is nearly correct, at least a low estimate, and that the average product of the New York plantations be 12 lbs. of oil to the acre, while that of Ohio is reckoned at 8 lbs., the total annual product of these States will be 10,000 lbs., valued at $25,000 — making the average value of the whole crop of oil of Peppermint produced annually in the United States to be over $63,000 to its producers. Having in view the general interest felt by our profession in such matters, I was led to prepare this Report ; and if, gentle- men, it has served to instruct, or even entertain you, I shall rest satisfied, only expressing the hope that it may induce mem- bers who possess the opportunities requisite, to convey to the Association such information as they can collect relative to those industries of our country, appertaining to our pursuits, and con- cerning which the general knowledge is as yet limited and ir definite. In conclusion, I desire to express my obligations to those tlemen interested in the Mint product throughout our State for the valuable aid they have afforded me ; particularly to M^srs. S. C. Coffinberry, and Wm. H. Roys, of Constantine. ON THE SOLUBILITY OF MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. 43 ON THE SOLUBILITY OF THE MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES OP ALL ORGANIC MATTER IN ALCOHOL. By Wm. S. Merrill, A. M. In presenting my views on the above subject, I feel that I do it somewhat prematurely ; I had not intended to bring them for- ward at this meeting of the Association, but to wait till I could more fully confirm them by experiment and illustrate them by samples. But learning that the subject of Fluid Extracts was exciting great interest throughout the medical profession, and was likely to be made a prominent subject of enquiry here ; and as the laws which I hold to exist, lie at the foundation of all correct formulae for making this class of preparations, I have concluded, since leaving home, to sketch out my views on this subject and present them for your consideration. I am aware that the truth of my hypothesis will be questioned, for I have yet named it to no pharmaceutist who at first gave it his assent ; perhaps it will be proved false ; but if true, all will admit it to be of primary importance in the science of pharmacy. The hypothesis then, which I venture to propose, is this ; that alcohol, in its solvent power, accurately discriminates between the medicinal and the nutritive principles of all vegetable sub- stances, and, for the most part, of all organic matter. That, in their normal states, all those proximate principles of vegetation which are medicinal or poisonous, are soluble in pure alcohol, while all those which are nutritive, or capable of digestion and as- similation, are insoluble, or at most very sparingly soluble in that menstruum ; and conversely, all those parts or principles of vegetables which are soluble in alcohol, are non-nutritious and incapable of sustaining animal life, and when taken into the stomach in their isolated state, more or less disturb the normal action of the animal functions ; while all those parts. or princi- ples which are insoluble in that fluid, are either assimilative and nutritious, or else in consequence of the inaction of the gastric juices upon them, (as lignin, wax, caoutchouc, &c.) are inert, or act only mechanically on the system. Thus, starch, gum, glu- ten, pectin, vegetable albumen, glucose, sugar, fixed oils, and other analogous principles, all those elements which are digest!- / 44 ON THE SOLUBILITY OF MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. bie and capable of sustaining animal life, are insoluble in pure alcohol, while the resins, alkaloid salts, essential oils and those fixed oils which are medicinal, are soluble in that menstruum. It is at once objected to these views, that there are many vege- table substances from which pure alcohol will not extract the medicinal virtues ; that for this purpose water, dilute alcohol, acids, ether or other agents are requisite, and are hence prescrib- ed in our pharmaceutical formulae. It is true that to eliminate these principles in the first place from their native combinations in the plant, such agents are necessary, not because such medi- cinal principles are not themselves soluble in alcohol, but be- cause they are so enveloped in and shielded by other principles which are not soluble in that menstruum that it cannot reach them. If we dissolve a mixture of gum acacia and muriate of mor- phia, and reduce the solution to dryness and a coarse powder, strong alcohol will not dissolve out the morphia from that pow- der ; not because it is not soluble in the alcohol, but because it is protected by the insoluble gum. But, if now we re-dissolve this mass and pour the solution into a proper quantity of strong alcohol, the gum will be precipitated, and the morphia remain in solution, and may thus be recovered and isolated. So in extracting the virtues of most plants it is necessary, or at least expedient, to use other agents besides alcohol to bring into solution all their elements, and thus disengage the principles we seek. In most cases water is necessary as one of these agents, for the purpose of dissolving the nutritive principles and expanding the vegetable fibre. In some cases the medicinal elements are found enveloped in others which are not soluble either in water or alcohol, as wax, caoutchouc, and the fatty oils. Then we require ether, benzole or camphene, for their perfect and speedy elimination, but when once freed from such shield- ing substances the medicinal elements are all found to be solu- ble in alcohol alone. When the principle sought is a fixed medi- cinal oil, we find ether to be used to great advantage, because it dissolves that principle to the exclusion of most others, and thus presents the medicine in a very pure and concentrated form, as in the ethereal extract of ergot, capsicum, filix mas, &c, but ON THE SOLUBILITY OE MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. 45 when so obtained, the ether may be replaced by alcohol and all that is medicinal held in solution by that grand solvent. But while alcohol is the specific solvent of all the medicinal elements of vegetation, they are most of them while in their native combinations soluble in water also ; this is the most uni- versal solvent in nature. This alone will probably extract all the virtues of jalap and podophyllum and leave little but the in- ert vegetable fibre. For the resinous principles of these roots, in their natural state, are held in such intimate combination with the other elements that they are dissolved out and held in solu- tion with them. Thus the watery extracts of such roots actually contain their medicinal virtues although greatly diluted with other non-medicinal principles. But, if that native combination is once broken up or disturbed, those resinous principles separate and are not again soluble in that menstruum. When obtained, however, by this or other injudicious processes, these resinoid principles and perhaps others originally medicinal, are liable to become so changed in their original constitution by the action of heat, water and oxygen, as to be no longer soluble in alcohol, and just so far as this is the case their medicinal properties are destroyed and they become inert. Thus the medicinal value of jalapin, podophyllin, leptandrin and the other resinoids may be correctly estimated by their solubility in alcohol, for so far as they are thus insoluble they are worthless. Many vegetables which we habitually use as wholesome escu- lents, contain some elements soluble in alcohol, but these when separated and concentrated will be found to be active medicines or poison. In themselves they are not nutritious but medicinal, but in the small proportions in which they are found in our food, they may, like the pepper, and ginger and cayenne, and common salt, which we use as condiments, serve as healthful stimulants to the digestive organs, and thus aid in the assimilation of those substances which are really nutritive. I have above advocated the truth of this hypothesis as applied to vegetable substances only ; but if the bone phosphate of lime, (which I believe is not soluble in alcohol), is entirely inert, as is the opinion of Prof. Wood, then I know of no exception to its application to the whole animal kingdom also. I wish it to be understood, however, that I contend for the 46 ON THE SOLUBILITY OF MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. application of this law only to those proximate principles of organic matter which are properly the products of vegetable and animal life. Among the multifarious combinations of the primary elements which are the results of the destructive de- composition of vegetable and animal matter, there may be found exceptions to this rule ; some preparations may be found which are medicinal or poisonous, and yet not soluble in alcohol ; but that is foreign to our present enquiry. To prove this hypothesis affirmatively would require the enu- meration of every article of the vegetable Materia Medica, with testimony to the solubility of its medicinal principle in alcohol ; we can therefore only offer the negative proof of challenging the production of facts that militate against it. These we be- lieve, if any, will be found so few that the exceptions will but establish the rule. The importance and application of this law will be readily ap- preciated. The particular modes of manipulation must be left to the judgment of the pharmaceutist, and must be greatly va- ried, according to the nature of the substance operated on. The general rule of operation will be this : In the first place, extract from the crude material all its soluble elements, or at least be sure that we have reached and eliminated all those medi- cinal principles which we seek. For this purpose we may em- ploy water, alcohol, ether, or other agents, or these combined or in succession, as experience and pharmaceutical knowledge may indicate. Then, from this primary tincture or solution, draw off, by the still or the vacuum pan, the menstruum used, and reduce the extract to a semi-fluid or syrupy consistence, leaving as little fluid as practicable to dilute the alcohol to be used, and yet retain sufficient fluidity to allow all the particles to come fully in contact with this solvent. Next weaken this semi- fluid extract with absolute alcohol, or, at least, with that of such strength as will not dissolve the nutritive and inert principles. In doing this, use, in the first place, about two-thirds or three- fourths the quantity for the proposed volume of the finished tincture, and after sufficient agitation and digestion in this, de- cant or filter off the clear liquid and set it aside. Treat the re- maining precipitate with repeated portions of alcohol till no- thing more is dissolved, and distil off the spirit from these ON THE SOLUBILITY OF MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. 47 weaker solutions, till the quantity left, when added to the for- mer strong solution, will make up the measure proposed. If this, from inferiority of the materials used, is not of the specific gravity adopted, it may be further concentrated. If the material to be extracted contains any essential oil or other volatile principle, this must first be drawn off and set aside, to be added at the close of the process, or to be used as part of the menstruum in the second part of the process. This is best done, not by distilling over, but by displacing down- wards by the vapor or alcohol in the vapor displacement appa- ratus, an improvement which we now employ. But as my ob- ject now is to develop a general law and its uses, and not to give particular formulae, I will not dwell longer on these mani- pulations. In this way alcoholic solutions may be obtained of almost any desired degree of concentration, for as the solvent power of the menstruum is no longer diminished by the presence of water or foreign matters, it becomes, in regard to many substances, lim- ited only by the consistence of the solution. In general, how- ever, the concentration now generally adopted for the fluid ex- tracts, in which each fluid-drachm represents the strength of 60 grains of the material, is a convenient one, and is easily attain- able with almost every plant, but other standards may be adopted, as found expedient. We believe that pharmaceutical preparations made in accord- ance with the above hypothesis will be found superior in most cases, to those now in use. In all the formulae now in use, or which I have seen recom- mended for fluid extracts, much of the volatile principles of the plant are dissipated in the concentration and lost ; by this plan all are preserved. In those formulae, the removal of the alco- hol necessarily results in the precipitation of the resinous prin- ciples which, when such principles predominate, as in the jalap and leptandra, the amount of sugar recommended will not keep suspended, nor the addition of one-fifth or one-fourth of alcohol, as practised by later manufacturers, hold in solution. These must therefore be removed at the expense of the medicinal power of the preparation, or else give to it a turbid and disgust- ing appearance. In our proposed tinctures, on the contrary, 48 ON THE SOLUBILITY OF MEDICINAL PRINCIPLES. all such principles are held in perfect and permanent solution, and they are not like the old fluid extracts, liable to change from fermentation or loss by freezing. Such essential tinctures may be made much more perfect and definite representatives of the material from which they are pre- pared, than the common officinal tinctures, and may be dis- pensed with the greatest precision, while they are vastly supe- rior to those old preparations, in occupying but one-eighth to one-fourth the space, and especially in their containing so small an amount of stimulant, in proportion to their medicinal power, that this ceases to be an objection to their administration. Should cases occur, which may in one out of fifty, in which the physician apprehends that the few minims contained in the pre- scribed dose would unfavorably affect the patient, he has only to drop the tincture on a little sugar in a tea-cup, and pour on to it a spoonful of hot water, and by the time it is well mixed and cool, all the alcohol will be dissipated, and the medicine left diffused in the sweetened water. And here I will observe in passing, that no medicine, and especially those of an active character, should be thrown naked into the stomach in their concentrated forms. Such forms are exceedingly convenient for carrying, and for definite dispensing, and, I may add, for exhibiting to the patient as small and deli- cate doses ; but in administering them, they should almost always be diffused in syrup, gruel, or other bland liquid. Or if in pills, they should be so combined as to render the solution in the sto- mach gradual and diffusive. I may further remark, that if tinctures of the officinal strength are required, they may be instantly prepared from these concen- trated solutions, by the simplest formulae and in the greatest pro- portion. Or by adding them in proper quantity to warm simple syrup, beautiful medicinal syrups of any desired strength may be cheaply produced. But it is not to the preparation of fluid extracts or concen- trated tinctures only, that the law and the processes I propose are applicable. If we pour such tinctures into water, the resi- noid principles will be precipitated ; thus, jalapin, podophyllin, macrotin, &c, may be obtained in their purest form. If such tinctures be evaporated to the pillular consistence, they form ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 49 true alcoholic extracts, which are more active, more definite, more uniform, and more permanent, than any that can be other- wise prepared. Or again, if they do not contain fixed oils or oleo-resins, the evaporation may be carried to dryness, and the powdered extracts form convenient, definite, and powerful agents; such indeed, as are some of the so-called " concentrated medi- cines " now oifered to the medical profession, and approved as valuable preparations. Indeed, preparations formed in accordance with these views, will, in many cases, be found superior to the fine crystallized chemicals which have been considered the climax of pharmaceu- tic skill, inasmuch as in these latter the normal constitution of the medicine is always broken up, and new and artificial combi- nations formed, which do not act on the system precisely as the original organic salts as they exist in the plant; while in these alcoholic extracts, whether fluid, pillular, or powdered, the medi- cinal principles exist in combination with their own native acids or bases, arid thus truly represent the plant in substance ; and if our theory be true, will contain only those elements which are more or less medicinal, to the exclusion of the inert matter. But I have extended my paper already, I fear, beyond its ac- ceptable limits, and will therefore leave the above suggestions to the consideration and criticism of whom they may concern. Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 18 58. EXTRACTS FROM PR. SQUIBB' S PAPER ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. (From the Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association, 1858.) Argenti Nitras Fusus. With regard to this preparation the writer has only to sug- gest that the number and simplicity of the tests be amended. Lunar caustic when quite pure is not white, as usually de- scribed, but rather colorless and translucent at a point of re- cent fracture, and greyish externally from the action of light and organic matter. It is often but little more opaque than the crystals of similar thickness. It is crystalline and radiating from the center, upon fracture, and sometimes a little grey in- ternally from a small proportion of reduced silver. When of 4 50 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. granular or homogeneous fine grained fracture, and when of an opaque or porcelanic whiteness, it may be strongly suspected of impurity. As a general rule, that presenting the handsomest appearance is most to be distrusted, or most clearly indicates the necessity of examination. It is, perhaps, better known in the pharmaceutical than in the medical profession, that a lunar caus- tic " No. 2 " is very commonly made and sold, and is, as far as the writer has been able to ascertain, quoted upon the prices current of every manufacturing chemist in the United States. This preparation is commonly made up of 66 to 75 per cent, of nitrate of silver, and 33 to 25 per cent, of nitrate of potassa. It is put up precisely as the so-called pure or " No. 1 " prepara- tion, with the exception of a shade of color in the tint of the paper with which it is wrapped, or in the wax with which it is sealed. The bottle containing half a pound or more is often marked "No. 2 " upon the wrapper or label, and this sometimes with lead pencil. But the sticks carry with them, on being dis- pensed and used, no indication of adulteration, and since " the trade," or the initiated only, know the slight distinctions men- tioned, the preparation is liable to be sold and used as a pure article. Whatever may be the object of this half-masked adul- teration, its effect and drift are unmistakably bad, and therefore the means of detection and control should be so simple and easy of application, as to insure their use as far as practicable. The writer believes he has been fortunate enough to find a test just applicable to this necessity, and which in point of sim- plicity, and easy application, must leave little to be desired. A small fragment of nitrate of silver, crushed to powder with a knife blade upon a piece of paper, the powder spread out over the paper, and the paper and powder then rolled up into a small match-like roll, twisted, set on fire and burned, leaves a tasteless residue of pure silver. But if the nitrate contains even one per cent, of any saline impurity, the residue, instead of being taste- less, will have the sharp alkaline taste of the base of the adul- terating salt. The little match burns rapidly with deflagration, as may be seen by those near, the carbon of the paper serving perfectly to reduce the silver, and in great measure the base of the adulterating salt also. With this test no one need be de- ceived by "No. 2" lunar caustic, nor by the adulteration of the crystallized nitrate with chlorate of potassa, &c, and even ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 51 the small proportion of sal prunelle that is often added to the so-called pure or "No. 1 caustic" to make it run well, is de- tected in a minute with equal certainty. A solution of nitrate of silver precipitated by hydrochloric acid in excess yields a precipitate entirely soluble in ammonia. The clear supernatant liquid evaporated to dryness yields no residue whatever. It has been ascertained by Prof. J. Lawrence Smith, of Lou- isville, Ky., that the addition of a small proportion of chloride of silver to the nitrate renders the sticks very tough and hard, and thus remedies a defect long felt in the use of pure lunar caustic. He adds, before fusing, such a proportion of chloride of so- dium that the fused nitrate may contain about 8 per cent, of chloride of silver, and considers this proportion as best adapted to the object in view. But this method has the serious objection of introducing a very considerable proportion of nitrate of soda into the preparation, and of diminishing its available strength by the percentage of chloride of silver, plus the percentage of nitrate of soda formed. The writer prefers to add a given quan- tity of hydrochloric acid to the nitrate before fusing, or while in solution ; and thinks that such an addition as will give to the nitrate 5 per cent, of the chloride of silver, will be found suf- ficient for all useful purposes. The chloride of silver formed is entirely soluble in the concentrated solution of the nitrate, and is therefore of course perfectly disseminated through the whole quantity. So hard and tough does this admixture render the sticks of fused nitrate, that the writer believes that they might be made of two- thirds the usual thickness, and yet be sufficiently 3trong for all practical purposes. The formula proposed for this preparation is as follows : Take of Nitrate of Silver, two ounces. Muriatic Acid, forty grains. Distilled Water, half a fluid ounce. Mix the acid and distilled water in a suitable vessel, add the nitrate of silver, and by means of a sand bath or gas flame evap- orate to dryness, fuse, and cast the fused mixture in suitable moulds. The characteristics and tests for this preparation are the same 52 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. as for thai which contains no chloride. If the hydrochloric acid be of full officinal strength, it will contain just about 5 per cent, of chloride of silver. The specimens presented are, first, that made by Dr. Smith containing 8 per cent, of chloride of silver added in the form of chloride of silver. And second, that made by the writer by the above formula. Ferri Iodidum. In the management of this preparation, the writer greatly pre- fers a modification of the process of Messrs. Smith, of Edin- burgh, as given in the U. S. Dispensatory. This process as now used by the writer, reduced to the scale of the Pharmaco- poeia, is as follows: Take of Iodine, two ounces. Iron Wire, five drachms. Distilled Water, three fluid-ounces. To the iodine and water, contained in a glass-stoppered bottle of eight ounces capacity, add the iron, and shake the mixture till it has assumed a purely green color, free from brown tinge. Then having placed a flask of proper capacity over a spirit lamp, or gas-burner which is just ready for lighting, filter the solution through a moistened filter into the flask, allowing the funnel which holds the filter to rest upon the rim of the flask neck. As soon as the filtration has commenced, light the flame beneath, and boil the solution. When the solution has all passed the filter, and the filter has been washed by the water condensed from the boiling solution, remove the funnel and filter, and introduce a long piece of clean iron wire. Boil ac- tively till the iodide begins to thicken, and then gradually re- duce the flame, and continue the heating gently till iodine vapor appears in the remaining portions of watery vapors passing off. Then extinguish the flame, and allow the flask to stand loosely stopped for half an hour to cool. Finally, break the flask over a warm dry mortar, carefully excluding the fragments of glass, break up the iodide and transfer it to small bottles with good stoppers. The net yield is 1212 grains. Some of the advantages obtained by this management are as follows : By using so much less iron, though still a sufficient \ ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 53 excess, the violence of the first reaction is controlled, the stir- ring avoided, and by the use of a bottle the air is excluded, and the loss of iodine diminished. By the use of a smaller propor- tion of water the filtration and evaporation are materially short- ened and smaller' vessels are required. By affecting the com- bination without artificial heat, less risk is involved, while the operation is equally simple and easy, and more convenient. Af- ter the first active reaction subsides, the stopper may be firmly fixed, and then five or ten minutes shaking produces the charac- teristic clear green color, while the bottle remains entirely free from the brown stains that mark the commencement of de- composition. By filtering into the flask in the manner described, the whole solution in the flask and filter is protected during the greater part of the time by an atmosphere of steam, and the filter is washed and drained in the same atmosphere by the water condensed in and upon it, this water with the iodide fall- ing back into the flask. The long iron wire stuck into the flask after the funnel is removed serves mainly to render the boiling equable, and prevent bumping. The finished preparation is in bright, dry, metallic looking masses, somewhat crystalline in fracture, and wholly soluble in water. It still contains a little water that might be driven off by more protracted and more gentle heating ; but as the remain- der of the process would involve protracted contact of air, the resulting decomposition would more than counterbalance any advantage sought in this direction. As sesquioxide of iron forms no combination with iodine, it might be supposed that rusty wire or filings would be as good as clean iron, and for some time the writer acted upon this suppo- sition. Afterwards, however, he became convinced that clean iron is necessary for a good preparation. Since it has been pretty conclusively shown that the presence of metallic iron does not prevent the separation of sesquioxide, but only serves to recombine the iodine of the original compound, it seems desirable rather to avoid the decomposition that occurs from contact of the air, than to have iron present during the evaporation. In operating on a larger scale the writer, there- fore, performs the filtration, and finishes the evaporation in an atmosphere of carbonic acid, and is thus enabled to dry the pre- 54 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. paration rather more thoroughly by means of a saline bath, pro- curing a nicer as well as a practically better result. The drying is then continued till the iodide weighs about the sum of its con- stituents. Without any positive knowledge from experiment upon the subject, the writer thinks that the* decomposition is always the greater, the farther the drying is carried. Liquor Ferri lodidi. Here, again the writer suggests that the very large excess of iron be reduced, as in the foregoing formula. When the com- bination is so rapid, easy and complete, as between these two elements, it is quite useless to have so great an excess of iron. Another objection to the officinal process for this preparation is, that in filtering the solution of the iodide into the sugar, and then shaking them till the sugar is dissolved, a bright clear so- lution is rarely obtained. This arises from the circumstance that almost all sugar contains particles of dust and insoluble matters, and from the practical fact that it is almost impossible to make a bright syrup without a boiling temperature, or a most tedious filtration. Almost all sugar within ordinary reach con- tains something that renders cold-made syrups more or less cloudy and very difficult to filter. In view of these circumstances the writer suggests the follow- ing formula. It has now stood the test of three years experi- ence, and produces a preparation of which those present can judge in some measure by the specimens of various ages pre- sented. A specimen made exactly in accordance with the offici- nal directions is also presented for comparison. Before travel- ling with it, it was bright and clear enough, but had a sediment at the bottom from which the others are free, and its color is not so good, probably for reasons to be noticed farther on. These specimens have not been exposed to the light. Take of Iodine two ounces. Iron Wire five drachms. Distilled Water, a sufficient quantity. Sugar twelve ounces. - Dissolve the sugar, by means of heat, in eight fluid-ounces of boiling distilled water, and filter the syrup through paper into a tared flask of the capacity of twenty fluid-ounces or more \ ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 55 Then put the iodine and iron into a bottle with three fluid- ounces of distilled water, and after the active reaction has sub- sided, shake the bottle vigorously until a bright clear green so- lution, free from brown tint, is obtained. By this time the solu- tion of the sugar will nearly all have passed through the filter. Perforate the syrup filter over the bottle containing the solution of iodide of iron, and allow the remaining unfiltered portion of the syrup to run into the solution of the iodide, and shake the mix- ture well. Arrange a funnel, containing a small moistened paper filter, over the flask of filtered syrup, so that the point of the funnel enters the syrup, and then filter the solution of the iodide into the syrup, keeping but a small portion of the solution in the filter, and maintaining a constant level till all has been poured in. Allow the filter to drain, without rinsing it, and finally add distilled water to the preparation till it measures, if cool, twenty fluid-ounces, or till it weighs twenty-five and a quarter ounces, shake it well, and keep it in small bottles well filled and well stopped. The process requires three hours, and yields a bright pale green solution of a s. g. of 1.348 containing a little over seven grains of iodide of iron in each fluid-drachm. This preparation, in the few instances in which the writer has seen it in the wholesale market, has been colorless or very near- ly so, or of a brown tint, and of the consistence of syrup. He therefore judges that in the wholesale market it is commonly made by the cheaper formula of the foreign Pharmacopoeia, and contains only about five grains of the iodide in each fluid-drachm, with a larger proportion of sugar. This larger proportion of sugar is inconvenient and unnecessary, since with proper ordi- nary precautions the product of our officinal formula is not liable to deterioration. The writer deprecates the too common prac- tice of making this preparation rather carelessly, and then set- ting it in the sun light to improve the color and appearance, since Mr. Maisch has shown that this treatment probably pro- duces an iodate of the sesquioxide of iron. From the facility with which chemical reactions take place in spongy or porous textures, whose pores contain air or gases often in a condensed state, the writer was easily led to a theoret- .cal objection to filtering the hot solution of iodide of iron into he sugar, as in the officinal process ; and he has since regarded 56 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S PHARMACOPOEIA. the circumstance of the color of this preparation being better when the solution is filtered into syrup, from which the air has been expelled by the heat in making it, as confirmation of the fact that there is far less air contact and far less consequent de- composition when the syrup is made beforehand. When solutions of chloride, iodide or bromide of iron, with the chlorine, iodine or bromine, in minimum combining propor- tions, are brought in contact with organic matter, a portion of the haloid salt is always decomposed with separation of sesqui- oxide of iron. The extent of the decomposition is determined chiefly by the presence of oxygen or air, but also by the extent of the contact, by the dilution of the solution, and by the tem- perature of the reacting substances. Hence the writer would have as small a quantity of solution to filter as possible, — would filter this through as small a filter as possible, — would filter it cold, or cool, and with the least possible exposure to the air, — and would abstain from washing the last portions out of the filter. This last portion, if washed through, is always of a brown color, and if washed through with water containing the usual proportion of air, is very brown. Fortunately, the solution, when not embarrassed by the de- bris of a large excess of iron passes through a filter very readily, and very rapidly ; so that by ordinary care and precaution, a very perfect, and so to speak, a very chemical preparation may be easily obtained, in which the beginnings of evil have been successfully opposed. The writer is disposed to resume or re-incorporate the direc- tion to preserve this preparation from the light, since by long ex- posure to light it loses its fine pale-green color and becomes color- less, with probably a material change of composition, and possi- bly of medicinal effect. Indeed, as a general rule, medicinal substances should be excluded from light to a far greater de- gree than at present obtains in practice ; and it would be an important step in the right direction, to have some of the white painted shelves of dispensing establishments replaced by closets. Concentrated ether, exposed to sunlight for an hour of each day, soon acquires a strong, disagreeable, pungent, and often empy- reumatic odor, becomes acid, and altogether unfit for use, through partial decomposition. Chloroform, under similar cir- ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 5T cumstances, gives an odor of chlorine and muriatic acid, and produces a yellow, oily liquid, which collects around the edges of the surface in contact with the bottle. Spirit of nitre be- comes colorless-'and acid in a few hours. Hoffmann's anodyne be- comes quite acid, and many tinctures and powders change their sensible properties materially. Hydrargyri lodidum. In a chemical point of view, this preparation may be regarded as one of the most indefinite and uncertain of the Materia Me- dica ; whilst therapeutically it is certainly very far from being what is desired. From being mild and manageable at times, it varies so that harsh and even violent effects are not unfrequently encountered from its use. As prepared strictly in accordance with the Pharmacopoeia, it always contains the red iodide, and this in various proportions, according to slight variations in the management. So that it must have been an oversight in those who constructed the present formula, that a careful washing with str5ng alcohol was omitted. When made by the officinal formula, in the dark, or by artificial light, carefully and tho- roughly washed by digestion and decantation with strong alco- hol, dried in the dark, and then carefully preserved from the light, it is probably in its best condition for therapeutic appli- cation. But even then, though free from red iodide it contains a large preportion of the yellow or subiodide, and of metallic mer- cury. And these proportions vary, probably, every time it is made, even though made by the same person from the same materials. The writer has occasionally seen it so free from me- tallic mercury that it would but slightly amalgamate a surface of gold foil when rubbed upon it, but has never seen a specimen, however carefully made, or by whatever process, that would not very sensibly affect the gold when rubbed upon it ; whilst two specimens made as far as practicable in the same manner, would affect the gold differently. The proportion of yellow iodide must of course vary with the proportion of metallic mercury, and thus the color of the preparation, as commonly met with, is almost always different. It is generally described as being green or yellowish green, but when well washed it is, though of varying tint, always of a greenish yellow color ; the brighter 58 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. and more lively in color the better, provided it be thoroughly dry. That which has a dead color, approaching to a dull olive, always contains largely of metallic mercury, and iodides that have been subjected to the action of light and moisture. The preparation should never be dispensed without the most careful testing, and it is fortunate that this testing is very sim- ply and easily performed. A small quantity of iodide of mer- cury rubbed in a mortar with a little strong alcohol, if it con- tains any red iodide, will invariably exhibit a red coloration in the track of the pestle as the alcohol evaporates from the sur- face of the mortar. Or, if a portion to be examined be shaken in a test tube with alcohol, and the alcohol evaporated from a porcelain or glass surface, the most minute proportion of red iodide becomes visible. If it be desired to estimate the quan- tity,— or rather to establish the presence of metallic mercury, — the iodide should be rubbed with a moderate degree of pressure upon any surface of gold. In concluding the unsatisfactory notice of this preparation, the writer submits the opinion that, unless some discriminating solvent can be found for the separation of these lower iodides of mercury, it is adapted to medical use. Hydrargyri Iodidum Rubrum. Some years ago Dublanc proposed to prepare this iodide by a process of direct combination through the intervention of al- cohol, and the writer has found a slight modification of M. Du- blanc's process much more easy, convenient, and economical than the officinal one, while it is only liable to the objection that it necessarily contains the insoluble impurities of the materials ; an objection of but little practical weight, since it has never been urged in the case of the green iodide, though that is given in much larger doses. Take of Mercury, one ounce. Iodine, ten drachms. Alcohol, four fluid-ounces. Introduce the mercury, iodine, and half the alcohol into a four-ounce vial, and shake the mixture occasionally during two days, or until the combination is effected. Should the alcohol become colorless during the process, iodine in minute portions ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPOEIA. 59 should be added until the alcohol retains a brown color after shaking and digestion. Transfer the contents of the bottle to a paper filter, and when the colored alcohol has drained off wash the iodide with the remainder of the alcohol, and dry it by a gen- tle heat. The yield is ten hundred and sixty-two grains. It is thought that the simplicity and convenience of this for. mula adapt it better to the practice of the pharmaceutist than any yet tried, whilst it yields a preparation not inferior to that of the officinal formula. Morphice Sulphas. Upon a comparison of the medicinal activity of this prepara- tion as made by the officinal formula, and as found in the market from the largest manufacturers, it becomes evident that a much larger dose of the latter is required to produce similar effects. This same deficiency in the commercial preparation is indicated by the circumstance that of late years very much larger doses are commonly prescribed. The dose indicated by authoritative works on therapeutics is one-sixth to one-third of a grain, this being medicinally equivalent to one and two grains of opium. But whilst opium itself has been reduced in medicinal value by the various new expedients, such as yolks of eggs, &c, till the effective dose has been very materially augmented, sulphate of morphia is now rarely prescribed in less than quarter grain doses, often in doses of three quarters of a grain, and some- times in one grain doses, to obtain its legitimate sedative effect ; and this exclusive of those cases wherein, from habitual use or idiosyncrasy, large quantities are required. There must be some reason for this, and the subject is referred to in order to suggest investigation and research. The author having made no re- search, must rest satisfied with stating the fact, upon his own and his professional friends' observation, that the preparation of the Pharmacopoeia is more active than that of commerce ; and farther, that he believes that the deficiency of the latter in ef- fective value is not due to fraudulent admixture or adulteration, but to faulty manipulation, whereby a portion of soluble but in- ert, and for the most part uncrystallizable matter, is entangled in the crystals with the mother liquors, and dried and sold with them, thus increasing the percentage yield. Within the past seven 60 ON THE REVISION OF THE U. S. PHARMACOPCEIA. years the writer has examined some twelve samples of opium, ten of which were purchased for the army and navy, where profits were not at stake, and price a secondary object. In four in- stances the portion examined was from the powder resulting from the careful drying and powdering of half a case ; while in all the remainder, the samples were selected with care from va- rious lumps, whenever such selection was possible. Several other examinations were made where no selection was possible, but the results were all below those now to be given. In no instance of these examinations did the yield of crude morphia exceed 8.1 per cent., whilst the average of the specimens was scarcely above 7.6 per cent. If this may be taken as expressing the condi- tion of the general market for this drug, the common statement of authoritative writers, that good opium contains from ten to twelve per cent, of morphia, now needs re-examination and re- vision. The relative expense of opium and salts of morphia taken in connection with the troublesome and expensive process of ex- traction and manufacture leads to the inference that manufac- turers, to be able to sell the preparation at fair profits, must ob- tain much greater yields than would be indicated by the exami- nation of any opium the writer has ever met with. Zinci Qhloridwm. The writer agrees with Dr. Bache, (see U. S* Dispensatory, 11th eel. p. 1351,) that the fused chloride is by far the most eligible preparation, for many reasons. First, it is a matter of some difficulty to dry the salt as directed in the Pharmacopoeia, since a portion of it is very liable to fuse before other portions are dry. Again, after fusion it is much more easily managed, col- lected and preserved without material deliquescence ; and finally, it is far more easily applied to the ordinary purposes for which it is used, and occupies much less space. The fusion is easily effected in the evaporating basin in which the solution has been concentrated, and requires only a gas or lamp flame to effect it. With proper care, therefore, it becomes quite useless to transfer it to a crucible. Should the chloride become colored from the organic matter of filters, from dust or other like causes, as it is very liable to do MELEZITOSE, A NEW SPECIES OF SUGAR. 61 during the rather tedious evaporation, a few drops of nitric acid stirred into the fusing salt clears it at once, by converting all the carbonaceous matters into carbonic acid, which latter, of course, flies off with the excess of nitric acid. The writer has never used the officinal process for this prepara- tion, having at first given a preference, upon theoretical grounds, to that wherein the iron is precipitated by freshly prepared oxide of zinc and chlorine, and from having been well satisfied with the results obtained. ON MELEZITOSE, A NEW SPECIES OF SUGAR. By M. Berthelot. In pursuing the study of the saccharine matters, I found, some years ago, in the manna of Brian gon — a saccharine exu- dation produced by the larch (meleze) and formerly employed in pharmacy—a new sugar analogous to cane sugar, but of which I was unable to follow up the study, from want of matter. Having since then succeeded in procuring a sufficient sample of this manna, thanks to the kindness of M. Meissas, formerly Professor of Mathematics at the Lyce*e Napoleon, I resumed the study of it, and I succeeded in isolating and characterising the sugar which it contains ; it is a new substance, very inter- esting from its analogy to cane sugar ; I shall designate it by the name of melezitose. To extract it, the manna of Briancon is treated with boiling alcohol, evaporated to the consistence of an extract, and left to itself for some weeks. Melezitose crystallises in a syrupy mother-liquor; it .is compressed, washed with warm alcohol, and re-crystallised in boiling alcohol; very small, hard and bril- liant crystals are thus obtained : examined in the microscope, they appeared to be oblique rhomboidal prisms, analogous to those of cane sugar. I could not obtain them of sufficient size to measure their angles. These crystals, viewed in the mass, present an opaque appearance, which isolated crystals do not. Their taste is sweet, analogous to that of glucose, and conse- quently much weaker than that of cane sugar. They are very soluble in water, almost insoluble in cold alcohol, sparingly sol- 62 ON MELEZITOSE, A NEW SPECIES OF SUGAR. uble in boiling ordinary alcohol. Absolute alcohol added to a concentrated aqueous solution of melezitose, precipitates it slowly under the crystallised form ; its aqueous solution left to spon- taneous evaporation becomes syrupy and remains for a long time without crystallising. Melezitose, dried at 110° C. (230° F.) presents the same composition as cane sugar, and corresponds to the formula Q12H11Q11. Below 140p C. (284° F.), it fuses into a trans- parent liquid, without undergoing any appreciable alteration. Its reactions are like those of cane sugar. It does not percep- tibly reduce the potassio-tartrate of copper, and is not destroyed at 100° C. (212° F,), by the alkalies ; but concentrated sul- phuric acid carbonises it cold ; under the influence of boiling hydrochloric acid, it rapidly turns brown. Dilute sulphuric acid metamorphoses it at 100° C. (212° F.) into a sugar analogous to, or identical with, glucose, capable of reducing the potassio-tartrate of copper, and destructible at 100° C. (212P F.) by the alkalies. Nitric acid converts it into oxalic acid, without mucic acid. Ammonio-acetate of lead precipitates it. Melezitose, treated with yeast, ferments only slowly and incompletely, and sometimes does not do so at all ; but when it has been modified by sulphuric acid, it ferments immediately, and is almost entirely converted into alcohol and carbonic acid. Its rotary power, at 20° C. (68° F.), deduced from a solution of l-5th, and brought to the tint of passage, is equal to -j-90°«3. A solution containing 1-1 00th of sulphuric acid deviated -|-1707', heated to 100Q C. (212° F.) for ten minutes, +12°2'; for an hour, +9°'8; two hours, 9°8 . Thus, the rotary power of melezitose is higher by one-fourth than that of cane sugar ; under the influence of sulphuric acid, it diminishes more slowly than that of cane sugar, and does not change in sign, whereas cane sugar is interverted; this remark is essential. The rotary power of modified melezitose is almost identical with that of glucose. These characters, added to the feebler saccharine taste and the much greater difficulty of fermentation, distinguish melezi- tose from cane sugar. Trehalose is distinguished from melezitose by its rotary power, 4 ON MELEZITOSE A NEW SPECIES OF SUGAR. 63 which is equal to 4-208 degrees, and especially by a greater stability. As regards melitose, it possesses a rotary power scarcely differing from that of melezitose, and which varies in the same way under the influence of sulphuric acid. But melitose fer- ments much more easily, and with a special character, for it ferments only by half ; moreover, it furnishes mucic acid. From these facts, we see that cane sugar, long isolated by its character, becomes the type of a category of saccharine bo- dies, whose number goes on always multiplying. The same re- mark also applies to grape sugar. Indeed, the word glucose, formerly applied to grape sugar only, now designates a whole series of distinct saccharine prin- ciples, such as grape glucose, malt glucose, the glucose of fruits, of ligneous matter, lactic glucose, and perhaps the glucose of gum, &c. ; all these glucoses are saccharine bodies, directly fer- mentable, alterable by the alkalies, capable of reducing potas- sio-tartrate of copper, &c. In the same way, by the side of cane sugar, are grouped va- rious difficultly fermentable sugars, unalterable at 100° C. (212° F.) by the alkalies and by potassio- tartrate of copper, represented at 130° C. (266<> F.) by the formula C12HnOn, modified by the acids, and converted into new sugars belonging to the category of the glucoses. I found some years ago the first example of this new series of sugars analogous to cane sugar, melitose ; last year, I pub- lished a second example, trehalose. The mycose of Mitscher- lich, since discovered, and melezitose, increase the number of sugars of this group. It will henceforth be essential to take account of these re- sults in analytical researches relating to the study of saccha- rine matters, and no longer to confound with cane sugar analo- gous sugars, as doubtless has been done more than once, or re- lying only on the general reactions which their solutions present, and without seeking to isolate the sugars themselves in the pure state. These results merit attention no less in a synthetical point of view ; they prove that the artificial formation of cane sugar is 64 CITROMEL AND TARTROMEL OF IODIDE OP IRON. a more complicated problem than was supposed so long as no isomeric sugar was known. Indeed, the processes by which such a sugar might be produced, unless they are discovered by chance and by accident, must rest on the comparative study of these different isomeric principles, and furnish the general law of their formation — London Chemist, Oct., 1858, from Comptes Bendus, Aug. 2, 1858, CITllOMEL AND TARTEOMEL OF IODIDE OF IRON. By Mr. John Horncastle. So many able experimentalists have been engaged in the pro- duction and improvement of the preparations of iodide of iron, that I feel some diffidence in inviting attention to two new com- binations, fearing I might lay myself open to the charge of wishing to increase their number, without adequate advantage in the improvement of their quality. But as all the prepara- tions at present in use are in some respects defective, especially as regards their stability, I feel confident that my investigations have been directed to a useful object, and hope the results will be interesting to the Members of the Pharmaceutical Society. About six years ago I was informed by Mr. C. F. Palmer, of Birmingham, that citric acid would prevent the spontaneous de- composition of solutions of iodide of iron. Conceiving that this property of the acid might be made available for preserving so- lutions for officinal use, I commenced a series of experiments, to ascertain the extent of its preservative powers, and likewise whether the other common vegetable acids, viz., the tartaric and acetic, possessed similar properties. Six solutions were made, each containing five grains of iodide of iron in a fluid ounce of distilled water, and to five of them citric acid was added, in proportions varying from one to five grains. All the solutions were perfectly clear and colorless — They were put into ounce-and-half phials, not corked, but the mouths covered with paper, to keep out the dust, and placed in a window where they were freely exposed to the light, though usually shaded by a blind from the direct rays of the sun. They were examined and tested with starch paper at intervals of a few days. The solution which contained no citric acid had de- CITROMEL AND TARTROMEL OF IODIDE OF IRON. 65 posited a considerable quantity of brownish-yellow powder, and exhibited other signs of being in an advanced stage of decom- position at the end of a week ; whereas, no indication of decom- position could be detected in the other solutions till the follow- ing periods : Solution with 1 grain of citric acid, 21 days. " 2 grains « 30 « u 3 « « 60 « u 4 << « 74 <; « 5 « " 93 " With much stronger solutions (one part to two, four, &c, of water), citric acid was found to hasten rather than retard de- composition. Similar courses of experiments were tried with acetic and tar- taric acids. The former prevented the deposition of oxide of iron, but not the separation of free iodine, and therefore failed to fulfil the most important requirement. The latter answered even better than citric acid. Solutions were prepared in the same manner as above, substituting tartaric for citric acid, and exposed to the same rigid test of their stability. The solution containing one grain of acid gave no indication of decomposi- tion till after the lapse of ninety-four days, and the others not till from seven to eight months, when they began to change almost simultaneously. The length of time these solutions were preserved, was not so regularly proportionate to the quantities of acid as in the experiments with citric acid. In strong solu- tions tartaric acid exerted no preservative influence. It appears, then, that citric and tartaric acids would be use- ful additions to weak solutions of iodide of iron intended to be kept for only a moderate period, as is usually the case with the medicines supplied to patients ; but for preserving stronger so- lutions, such as would be adapted for officinal use, they are quite ineffectual. I have therefore tried them in conjunction with saccharine matter, and on account of the liability of cane sugar to be converted into the less soluble grape sugar, I selected clar- ified honey, and found the combination a very perfect vehicle for iodide of iron. The following are the formulas I have adop- ted : 5 66 CITROMEL AND TARTROMEL OF IODIDE OF IRON. Citromel Ferri lodidi. R. - Liq. Ferri lodidi, f.^j. Mellis, ^xij. Acidi Citrici, £vj. Aquae Distill. Bullient., f.gj. vel q. s. Liquify the honey by means of heat, and add, first the citric acid previously dissolved in the water, then the solution of iodide of iron; mix well together, making up f-^xij. with distilled water, and filter. Tartromel Ferri lodidi. R. Liq. Ferri lodidi, f.gj.' Mellis, gxij. Acidi Tartarici, §ss. Aquae Distillat. Bullient,, f.^j. vel q. s„ Proceed as directed for the Citromel. These preparations are about the same strength as the syrup of the Pharmacopoeia. The Liquor Ferri lodidi indicated contains an ounce of iodide in a fluid ounce, and may be conveniently made as follows : — Take of Purified Iodine, givss. Iron Wire or Filings, ^iss. Distilled W ater, q. s, Put the iron into a flask with three ounces of distilled water, and add the iodine a little at a time, allowing the solution to cool after each addition. When the whole has been added, set aside for a day or two and then filter, washing the insoluble resi- due with sufficient recently boiled distilled water to make up five fluid ounces and a half of clear solution. The Citromel and Tartromel Ferri lodidi will keep for an almost unlimited period, even in bottles that are frequently open- ed to take out small quantities. They will also keep well when diluted, and in this respect they have a remarkable superiority over the syrup of iodide of iron. The following mixture has been kept more than a year without any particular care, and did not manifest the slightest tendency to decomposition : — R. Citromellis Ferri lodidi, f.3j. Tinct. Gentianae Com., i.z'y Aquae Distillate, f.^xiv. M. I shall not attempt to explain the modus operandi of the citric PREPARATION OF PURE SULPHATES. 67 and tartaric acids, but will merely observe that they do not ap- pear to enter into chemical combination with the iodide, as their effect is not dependent upon any definite proportions. Having stated the results of my own experiments, I must leave it to the judgment and experience of others to decide whether these preparations are worthy of a place in the catalogue of remedial agents. They will require the test of longer and more extensive employment to establish their claim, but I feel assured they will be found to possess some valuable character- istics that will recommend them to both the Pharmaceutical and Medical professions. — London Pharm. Journ. Nov. 1858. ON THE PREPARATION OF SOME PURE SULPHATES, AND PARTICULARLY SULPHATE OF COPPER. Br Henry Wurtz, Prof. Chem. Med. Coll., Washington. Commercial blue vitriol always contains sulphate of protoxyd of iron, which cannot be separated by crystallization, owing to the fact, determined by Mitscherlich, that ferrous sulphate, when crystallizing with sulphate of copper, assumes the pente- hydrated composition and triclinic form of the latter, and forms with it homogeneous crystals. It has appeared to me desirable, therefore, that some special method be devised for the separation of the iron, both in order that the chemist may possess a source of pure compounds of copper, and because the prescence of iron must be injurious in those processes of dyeing, calico-printing, etc., in which blue vitriol is used, and in the preparation of the cupriferous pigments, verdigris, Paris green, etc. In undertaking this, my aim has been to produce a method by which the iron may be directly separated or abstracted from the solution without the permanent introduction of any foreign sub- stance. My process consists essentially of two steps ; the first of which is the conversion of the ferrous into ferric sulphate, by boiling with a little deutoxyd of lead ; and the second is the com- plete precipitation of the ferric sulphate, by boiling with a little carbonate of baryta. The hot solution is then filtered and allowed to crystallize, when large crystals of beautiful form and 68 PREPARATION OF PURE SULPHATES. color are obtained, containing no trace of iron. Deutoxyd of lead is prepared for this purpose by boiling minium with dilute nitric or acetic acid in the usual way, but minium itself, if free from soluble impurities, may be used directly in ordinary cases, although a portion of the oxyde of copper also is thereby precipi- tated. Deutoxyd of barium is of course also applicable. In cases where the presence of a little lime in the product is of no moment, as for the use of the calico-printer and manufac- turer of pigments, carbonate of lime may be substituted for that of baryta. In addition, it may be remarked that if the blue vitriol con- tains traces of manganese, as is extremely liable to occur, this contamination, as would appear from the observations of Schon- bein and Wolcott Gibbs, must also be entirely removed. The same treatment is evidently applicable to some other sul- phates, and I therefore present it as a general method for the re- moval of iron from the sulphates of bases precipitated with dif- ficulty by carbonate of baryta, namely, those of the alkalies, magnesia, manganese, zinc, cadmium, mercury, nickel, cobalt and protoxyd of iron. Of these the most important one practically is the sulphate of magnesia. The mode of proceeding with this would be precisely similar to that with the copper salt, as it would be also with the sulphates of zinc, cadmium, mercury, nickel and the alkalies. With regard to the manganous sulphate it must be remembered that deutoxyd of lead, as observed by Schon- bein, wholly precipitates sulphate of manganese from its boiling solution ; so that the deutoxyd must be used only in small excess over the necessary quantity. The same precaution applies, in a modified manner, to the treatment of the cobaltous sulphate, because Gibbs states that the salts of this metal are also partial- ly precipitated by long boiling with an excess of the deutoxyd, passing first to a higher state of oxydation. As to the protosulphate of iron, I have already (New York Jour. Pharmacy, i. 229) recommended the use of carbonate of baryta for the removal from it of sesquioxyd of iron. In the same paper (which has, I believe, entirely escaped notice from other Journals, owing to the irregularity with which the ex- changes of that publication were effected) I have given, among other observations upon the purification of copperas, another ALUM IN CHINA. 69 method of obtaining its solution free from ferric sulphate, name- ly, by acidulation with sulphuric acid and agitation with a little pulverized protosulphid of iron, by which the sesquioxyd is im- mediately reduced to protoxyd. To return again to the sulphate of magnesia, before leaving the subject, I must add that the treatment with carbonate of baryta, according to a former observation of my own, must re- move also entirely the sulphate of lime which usually contami- nates commercial Epsom salts ; for, as I have there stated, car- bonate of baryta totally precipitates gypsum from its solution, even in the cold ; and I have there proposed it as a means of re- moving the gypsum from spring or sea water which is to be used in steam boilers, (thus preventing incrustations,) as well as from the salt works. I have since found that carbonate of lead has the same power of precipitating gypsum, and may possibly be a cheaper agent for the purpose than carbonate of baryta, con- sidering the facility with which the lead may be recovered from the resulting mixture of sulphate of lead and carbonate of lime, in a metallic form.— -Am. Jour. Science and Arts, Nov. 1858. ALUM IX CHINA. By Dr. Macgowan. About eleven hundred tons of alum have been exported within a short period, chiefly to India. This mineral is largely em- ployed by the Chinese in dyeing, and to some extent in paper- making as with us. Surgeons apply it variously after depriving it of its water of crystallization, and in domestic life it is used for precipitating vegetable substances suspended in potable wa- ter. It is used also by the Chinese in a manner peculiar to them- selves. Fishermen are usually provided with it, and when they take one of those huge Thizostoma which abound on the coast, they rub the animal with the pulverized stypic to give a degree of coherence to the gelatinous mass. Architects employ it as a cement in those airy bridges which span the watercourses. It is poured in a molten state into the interstices of the stones ; and in structures not exposed to constant moisture the cohesion is perfect, but in damp situations it becomes a hydrate and crum- bles, a fact of which the whole empire was officially informed by the government about thirty years ago. It was discovered that 70 ALUM IN CHINA. water had percolated into the mausoleum of Kiaking ; having "been built too near to the mountain side, the alum cement im- bibed moisture, segregated, and opened the way for it to enter the tomb. In those peaceful days such an event was of so great im- portance as to call forth edicts and rescripts, memorials and re- ports in succession for several months. The son-in-law of the deceased monarch, to whose care the construction of the edifice had been entrusted, was fined and degraded, and a statesman from Fohkien, acquainted with the properties of alum, was ap- pointed to remove it a short distance from the mountain. Alum was first introduced into China from the west, and until a comparatively recent period the best kind, called sometimes Persian, and at others, Roman Alum, was brought from Western Asia. Numerous localities where an inferior article is manu- factured, are mentioned in the Pharmacopoeia- — viz ; Shan-tung, Shan- see, Kiang-su, Hu-kwang, Sz'-cheun, and also in the south western frontier and in Thibet. That from Sz'cheun, is repre- sented as having the property of converting iron into copper, or of coating iron with copper, by placing the former metal in a solution of rice-liquor, and alum the stone of that province. The most recent editions of works of materia medica contain no refer- ence to the mines in this province, the products of which have surpassed in quality the foreign, and rendered its importation unnecessary. From this and from other circumstances, it is certain that the works which we shall now describe have not been long in operation. They are in the Sung-yang hills bor- dering on Foh-kien in the district of Ping-yang, Wan-chau pre- fecture, and in close proximity to Peh-kwan harbor (27° 9' 10" K, 120° 32' 6" E.) The locality has been visited by one foreigner only, to whom we are indebted for the following particulars. About two months ago he started from Chi-k'i bight in Lannai harbor, to which Ningpo boats resort for this commodity, to the northward of Peh-kwan. Three hour's hard walking over a succession of precipitous hills crossed by stone steps and pathways brought him to the mines. Ten alum-making establishments were in operation, which, with the exception of one on a hill opposite, occupied about a mile of the side of a lofty hill. The works ALUM IN CHINA. 71 were adjacent to the quarries from which the alum-stone seemed to crop out of decomposed rock of the same lithological charac- ter. The stones were thrown into a fire of brushwood, where they were burnt with a slight lambent flame, and as they cracked, the fragments were raked out, broken into small pieces, and macerated in vats. Subsequently the disintegrated mineral was thrown with water into a vessel having an iron bottom and sides of wood, and boiled for a short time. The lixivium was then poured into large reservoirs, where it crystallized into a solid mass. Blocks of alum, weighing about fifty catties each, were hewn out of the reservoir and carried in this state in bamboo frames, one on each end of a porter's pole to the place of ship- ment, where it is broken into fragments. When not designed for immediate exportation the blocks are stored away for dry- ing. On reaching the depot the alum is found charged with a double quantity of moisture ; the porters being obliged to deliver a certain weight, they slip their burdens in the mountain streams which they pass in the journey. Judging from the number of laborers engaged in transporting the mineral on the day of our informant's visit, the quantity brought from the works could not be less than eighteen tons. This was represented as less than an average day's work, as labor was in such demand just then for agricultural purposes, that double pay was given ; — and aged men, and women, with boys and girls were pressed into the service. Assuming that day's product as a basis for calculation, and making an allow- ance for rainy days, we may safely estimate the annual supply as between five and six thousand tons. The quantity consumed by the dyers of Ningpo prefecture alone, being nearly twenty- two tons per annum is corroborative of this estimate. The supply is literally inexhaustible. Five dollars and a quarter a ton at the landing would afford the manufacturer a fair profit. It often fetches much more, as there has been an increasing de- mand for the article, owing to the greater facilities afforded for exportation from Ningpo in foreign vessels. — American Journal of Science and Arts, November, 1858. 72 NEW RESEARCHES ON ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION. NEW RESEARCHES ON ALCOHOLIC FERMENTATION. By M. L. Pasteur. Contrary to the opinion generally held, I am able to affirm that not the smallest quantity of lactic acid is found in alcoholic fermentation ; and whenever this acid is found, two very dis- tinct fermentations are accomplished simultaneously. Alco- holic fermentation is accompanied by lactic acid only in rare and exceptional circumstances, and when peculiar conditions, susceptible of being reproduced at pleasure, gave rise to the yeast which I have made known as lactic yeast. This new yeast being formed of much smaller globules than that of beer yeast, it is easy to ascertain by means of the mi- croscope, if there is a mixture of the two yeasts, and thus to anticipate the presence or absence of lactic acid. One question naturally presents itself: we have known, from the time of Lavoisier, that, in alcoholic fermentation, the liquor always assumes an acid reaction. If lactic acid is found excep- tionally by the means which I have just pointed out, what is the cause of the acidity of the liquor ? Numerous experiments have enabled me to ascertain that it is to succinic acid alone that the acidity of the liquor in alcoholic fermentation is due. The presence of this acid is not accident- al, but constant, and with the exception of the volatile acids which are formed in infinitely small quantities, it may be said that succinic acid is the only normal acid of alcoholic fermenta- tion. In whatever conditions I have hitherto operated, I have found succinic acid and glycerin, as uniformly as carbonic acid and alcohol, as regards their existence as products of alcoholic fermentation. The immediate consequences of these results will be compre- hended by every one. But I must be more reserved than any one in their discussion. — London Chemist, Oct. 1858, from Compter Mendus, August 23 1 858. ON THE CAMPHENIC SERIES. 73 ON THE CAMPHENIC SERIES. By M. Berthelot. The relations which exist between the formula of the camphor of Borneo, or camphol, C20H18O2, that of ordinary camphor C20H16O2, and that of the insomeric carburets, C20H16, and the artificial formation of ordinary camphor by means of Borneo camphor realised by M. Pelouze, have led me to try the inverse experiments, and to form these substances with each other. I have followed up this attempt not in relying on approxima- tions of formulae, which are too frequently fruitless, but on considerations relative to the similitude of molecular states. Indeed, if camphol and ordinary camphor are comparable as regards their physical properties, it is not the same with the carburets, C20H16. None of these bodies at present known ef- fects the solid state or the physical properties so characteristic of camphors. But several of these carburets, if not all, and especially essence of turpentine, may form a crystallised hydro- chlorate, C20H16HC1, endowed with the general properties of the camphors, and often designated, on account of this fact, by the improper denomination of artificial camphor. It is this hydro- chlorate which I have taken as a starting point. Although my researches are not yet concluded, I have already obtained a cer- tain number of results, which I think useful to indicate briefly. I have decomposed the solid hydrochlorate C20H16HC1 in special and proper conditions for preventing all molecular mod- ifications, which had not hitherto been done, and I obtained a carburet of hydrogen of the formula C20H16, endowed with the rotatory power, volatile towards 160° C- (320° F.), crystallisa- ble and fusible at 46° C. (114° 8' F.) quite similar to the cam- phors properly so called: this was true camphene. Hydrochloric acid changes it entirely into solid hydrochlorate. This camphene, oxidised under the influence of platinum black, is metamorphosed into a volatile and crystalline matter, with the odor and appearance of ordinary camphor, and pro- bably identical with it ; I have not yet completed the study of it. Finally, ordinary camphor, G20H16O2, was heated between 180° and 200° C. (356° and 392Q F.) with an alcoholic solution '74 ON THE CAMPHENIC SERIES. of soda, conformably to M. Cannizaro's method of converting the aldehydes into alcohols. It furnished camphol, C20H18O2. The following is the way in which I isolated this last sub- stance. After having opened the tubes in which the reaction was operated, I precipitated with water* the camphory matter. I compressed it, purified it by sublimation, then heated it to 200° C. (302° F.) with stearic acid. In these conditions ordi- nary camphor does not form a neutral combination in apprecia- ble proportion, whilst camphol forms a great quantity of stearic camphol, which is easily isolated and purified. The body thus prepared possesses the normal composition of C56H52Q4. De- composed by soda lime at 120° C. (248° F.) it readily regener- ates camphol, C20H18O2, with its composition and its most es- sential physical properties. The camphol thus regenerated con- tains : — ■ 0=77-6 H=11.8 The formula C20H18O2, requires :— C = 77-9 H=1L7 These results, which it is necessary to complete by the study of the rotatory powers and by that of the product of the oxida- tion of camphene, will establish between the various camphors and the natural carburets of hydrogen a collection of experi- mental relations founded essentially on the comparative study of the corresponding molecular states. — Chemist, from Oomptes Men- dus, August 6, 1858. ON HAUTLE, OR ANIMAL BREAD OF THE MEXICANS, By M. Guerin-Meneville. In the Bulletin de la Societe Imperiale Zoologique d' 'Accli- mation, M. Guerin-Me'neville has published a very interesting paper on a sort of bread which the Mexicans call Hautle, and which is made of the eggs of three species of hemipterous in- sects belonging to the group of water-bugs. * Water retains in solution the soda salt of a peculiar acid, camphic acid, C20H16O4l. ANIMAL BREAD OF THE MEXICANS. 75 According to M. Craveri, by whom some of the Mexican bread, and of the insects yielding it, were brought to Europe, these insects and their eggs are very common in the fresh waters of the lagunes of Mexico. The natives cultivate in the lagune of Chalco, a sort of carex called toule, on which the insects readily deposit their eggs. Numerous bundles of these plants are made, which are taken to a lagune, the Tescuco, where they float in great numbers on the water. The insects soon come and deposit their eggs on the plants, and in about a month the bun- dles are removed from the water, dried, and then beaten over a large cloth to separate the myriads of eggs with which the in- sects had covered them. Those eggs are then cleaned and sifted, put in sacks like flour, and sold to the people for making a sort of cake or biscuit, called hautle, which forms a tolerably good food, but has a fleshy taste, and is slightly acid. The bundles of carex are replaced in the lake and afford a fresh supply of eggs, which process may be repeated for an indefinite number of times. Moreover, says M. Craveri, the Mexicans collect quantities of these insects from the surface of the water by means of hooped nets, and these are dried and sold as food for birds. In Mexico, these dried insects are sold in the streets and markets, the dealers crying u Moschitos, Mosehitos" just as in Europe they cry " Food for your singing birds" It appears that these insects have been used from an early period, for Thomas Gage, a religionist, who sailed to Mexico in 1625, says, in speaking of articles sold in the markets, that they had cakes made of a sort of scum collected from the lakes of Mexico, and that this was also sold in other towns. Brantz Mayer, in his work on Mexico {Mexico as it Was and as it Is, 1844), says, "On the lake of Tescuco, I saw men occu- pied in collecting the eggs of flies from the surface of plants and cloths arranged in long rows as places of resort for the insects. These eggs, called Agayacath, formed a favorite food of the Indians long before the conquest, and when made into cakes resemble the roe of fish, having a similar taste and ap- pearance. After the use of frogs in France, and birds' nests in China, I think these eggs may be considered a delicacy, and 76 SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN ETC. IN TOBACCO SMOKE. I found that they are not rejected from the tables of the fash- ionable inhabitants of the capital." The more recent observation of Messrs. Saussure, Salle', Valet D'Aoust, &c, have confirmed the facts already stated, at least in the most essential particulars. The insects which principally produce this animal farina of Mexico, are two species of the genus Qorixa of Geoffroy, he- mipterous insects of the family of water-bugs. One of these species has been described by M. Guerin-Me'neville as new, and has been named by him Corixa fermorata. The other, identi- fied in 1831 by Thomas Say, as one of those sold in the mar- ket at Mexico, bears the name of Corixa mercenaria. The eggs of these two species are attached in innumerable quantities to the triangular leaves of the carex forming the bun- dles which are deposited in the water. They are of an oval form, with a protuberance at one end and a pedicle at the other extremity, by means of which they are fixed to a small round disc, which the mother cements to the leaf. Among these eggs, which are grouped closely together, and sometimes fixed one over another, there are found others, which are larger, of a long and cylindrical form, and which are fixed to the same leaves. These belong to another larger insect, a species of Notonecta, which M. Guerin-Meneville has named Notonecta imifasciata London Pharm. Journ., Sept., 1858, from Journal de Pharmacie. ON THE AMOUNTS OF SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN AND HYDROCYANIC ACID IN TOBACCO SMOKE. By A. Vogel, Jun. and C. Reischauer. If tobacco smoke be passed through an alcoholic solution of neutral or basic acetate of lead, the incurrent tube soon becomes blackened in a remarkable manner, whilst in the fluid itself a precipitate of carbonate of lead rendered brown by sulphuret of lead is deposited. To obtain the sulphuret of lead uncontamin- ated with carbonate of lead in the following quantitative investi- gations, the tobacco smoke was passed through an alcoholic solution of acetate of lead strongly acidified with acid. The SULPHURETTED HYDROGEN", ETC., IN TOBACCO SMOKE. 7T precipitate of sulphuret of lead was dried and weighed, after washing with alcohol. 1. Turkish tobacco, 3-4 grms. gave 7 milligrms. of sulphuret of lead. 2. " " 3*7 " u 7-5 u u " 3. German cigars, 3 " " 9 " " " Hence the presence of sulphuretted hydrogen in tobacco smoke is unmistakably proved. The presence of sulphuretted hydrogen in tobacco smoke may, however, be proved in a still more simple manner, by blowing the smoke through the cigar upon a piece of paper moistened with acetate of lead, when a brown color is immediately produced on the spot touched by the smoke. The well-known reaction of sulphuretted hydrogen upon nitro- prusside of sodium is exhibited most characteristically when a few drops of a solution of that salt mixed with ammonia are put into a test-tube and the tobacco smoke is introduced by a tube, which does not reach quite to the bottom of the test-tube. The walls of the glass moistened with the solution of nitroprusside of sodium, by shaking acquire a deep violet-red color by the action of the sulphuretted hydrogen of the tobacco smoke. The above data show at the same time what influence the incineration of the parts of plants must have upon the accuracy of the deter- mination of the sulphuric acid in the ashes. In order to determine directly the loss of sulphuric acid in the ashes caused by the incineration, the amount of sulphuric acid in the tobacco ashes produced in experiment I was ascertained. From this it appeared that of 100 parts of sulphuric acid in the tobacco, 12-63 were evolved in the smoke in the form of sul- phuretted hydrogen. This circumstance is consequently of im- portance in the determination of the sulphuric acid in incinerated parts of plants, and the more as a portion of the sulphuretted hydrogen also escapes observation in the upper part of the smoke of the burning tobacco. After cyanogen compounds had been sought in vain, even in large quantities of the ashes of tobacco, the tobacco smoke it- self was examined for cyanogen. The method of detecting hydrocyanic acid in the smoke is as follows: — Tobacco smoke is passed through a concentrated solution of caustic potash. The solution by this means acquires a slight brownish color, and when a turbidity is produced by dilution with water, it must be - 78 PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS AN OXIDIZING AGENT. filtered. The solution is then mixed with protopersulphate of iron and heated. It is necessary to employ a spacious vessel for this purpose, as a strong evolution of carbonic acid takes place, especially at the boiling-point. The precipitate obtained is treated with an excess of chemically pure muriatic acid, when the precipitated oxide of iron is dissolved, leaving behind it Prussian blue. The separation of the Prussian blue is facilitated by heating the solution ; after filtration and complete washing with hot water, and afterwards with alcohol, it usually remains upon the filter of a dark blue color. If, however, it be of a dingy green color from the presence of empyreumatic constituents of the tobacco smoke, it must be freed from this impurity by agitation with ether and alcohol, when it always remains with its charac- teristic color. It is obtained most beautiful, when, after it has been washed as much as possible upon the filter, it is decomposed by solution of potash, and a protopersalt of iron is added to the solution filtered from the peroxide of iron, by which it is regenerated, freed from foreign intermixtures, after treatment with muriatic acid. Two cigars, weighing together 10-6 grms., furnished 0-018 of Prussian blue ; and two cigars of another kind, weighing together 8-5 grms., gave 0 010 of Prussian blue. Amongst all the samples of tobacco investigated in the above manner by the authors, there was only one which gave an im- ponderable trace of Prussian blue from 5 grms. This was a very old tobacco. All the rest distinctly showed the presence of Prussian blue. The mode of smoking tobacco, whether in the form of a cigar or in a pipe, in fact, the mode of combustion in general, appears to have an influence upon the formation of hydrocyanic acid in the smoke. — Chem. G-az., Oct. 1858, from Dingier § Polyt. Journal. ON THE EMPLOYMENT OF PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS AN OXIDIZING AGENT. By S. Cloez and E. Guignet. To determine the sulphur contained in a sulphuretted mate- rial, the most exact process consists in converting the sulphur PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS AN OXIDIZING AGENT. 79 into sulphuric acid, which is then precipitated by a soluble salt of baryta. Nitric acid is usually employed for the oxidation of the sulphur, but its action is slow and difficult. It only be- comes complete by long boiling with concentrated nitric acid, and in operating upon sulphuretted organic matters, we have to fear either an imperfect oxidation or a loss of sulphuric acid by volatilization. The action of nitric acid is therefore often re- placed by that of a mixture of nitrate of potash and an alka- line carbonate in fusion, into which the matter to be analysed is thrown in small portions. This process is inconvenient in ope- rating upon gunpowder, which must be mixed with several times its weight of chloride of sodium, in order to moderate the re- action. The authors propose to effect the conversion of sulphur into sulphuric acid by means of permanganate of potash. For this purpose crystallized permanganate, containing no appreciable traces of sulphate, must be employed. To ascertain that the salt contains no sulphate of potash, a small quantity may be boiled with pure muriatic acid until it is completely decomposed ; the liquid should not precipitate chloride of barium. The operation is performed as follows, taking gunpowder as an example of the material to be analysed : — About 1 grm0 of powder is weighed very accurately, and dried in a stove or a current of dry air at 112° F. until it no longer loses its weight, ; in this way the quantity of water is determined. The dried material is then put into a small glass matrass with a saturated solution of permanganate of potash ; and the liquid is boiled, with the addition of permanganate from time to time, until the mixture has a persistent violet tint. All the sulphur in the powder is then converted into sulphu- ric acid, and the carbon into carbonic acid ; the liquid holds oxide of manganese in suspension ; concentrated muriatic acid is added, and the whole is boiled until the oxide is completely dissolved, which only requires a few minutes. If the solution of the oxide be slow, the liquid is too dilute, and must be con- centrated by evaporation ; after which pure muriatic acid is again added ; a slight excess of chloride of barium is then poured into the balloon, so as to precipitate all the sulphuric acid, a lit- tle nitric acid is added, and the whole is boiled so as to give co- 80 PERMANGANATE OF POTASH AS AN OXIDIZING AGENT. iierence to the precipitate of sulphate of baryta. The lat- ter is then washed with distilled water on the filter until the washing-water produces no turbidity in nitrate of silver. The filter is calcined with its contents in a platinum capsule, and weighed, deducting the weight of the ashes of the filter in the ordinary way. In a laboratory where numerous determinations of sulphur have to be made daily, instead of collecting and weighing the sulphate of baryta, the liquid might be precipitated by a nor- mal solution of chloride of barium by the method of successive approximations. The results are very exact, and the whole operation does not last more than a quarter of an hour. The finely divided carbon contained in powder being readily and completely oxidized by permanganate of potash, the authors think it possible that this reagent may be applied to the deter- mination of the carbon contained in animal charcoal, or in other matters containing finely divided carbon. The analysis of the saline compounds of sulphur is very easi- ly effected by permanganate of potash. Hyposulphite of soda reduces the solution of permanganate immediately in the cold, and by adopting the same course as with gunpowder, the authors obtained the following results : — 1-000 gr. of commercial crys- tallized hyposulphite of soda gave 1-850 gr. of sulphate of baryta, containing 0-254 gr. of sulphur. Calculation from the formula S202, NaO, 5HO requires 0-258 gr. The authors have ascertained that this method does not apply only to bodies which attract oxygen with avidity, but that the most stable sulphuretted compounds are completely oxidized by permanganate of potash, the sulphur being entirely converted into sulphuric acid ; thus sulphuret of carbon, which resists ebul- lition with fuming nitric acid, and dissolves hyponitric acid with- out being decomposed, becomes completely changed into sul- phate of potash and carbonic acid when boiled with a solution of permanganate of potash. Different organic sulphuretted compounds, especially hydro- sulphate of sulphuret of benzyole, behave in the same way. The authors therefore hope that this method will advantageously re- place the oxidation of sulphuretted matters by the mixture cf ON PERMANGANATE OF POTASH, ETC. 81 carbonate of soda and chlorate of potash, or by oxide of cop- per in a current of oxygen. For certain sulphuretted compounds the employment of the permanganate presents peculiar advantages. In the analysis of the alkaline polysulphurets and hydrosulphates there is never any fear of loss of sulphur by evolution of hydrosulphuric acid, as the liquid is constantly alkaline. In the course of their experiments the authors have observed some facts regarding the action of permanganate of potash upon various organic matters. The hydrocarbons of a low equiva- lent, such as benzine, reduce the permanganate in the cold with great facility, only furnishing carbonate or bicarbonate of pot- ash. But the higher hydrocarbons furnish, together with the carbonate, some well-defined products of oxidation. Thus naph- thaline furnishes naphthalic acid, a product which is difficult to prepare by the methods hitherto known. Camphor reduces the permanganate by the aid of a prolonged ebullition ; camphorate of potash is formed. Alcohol does not act very speedily upon the solid, pulverized permanganate, in consequence of the slight solubility of this salt in alcohol ; acetate of potash is produced. Under the same cir- cumstances wood-spirit furnishes carbonate and formiate. Se- bacic acid is converted into succinate of potash. Stearic acid only gives a mixture of stearate and carbonate ; benzoic acid has an analogous action, a portion of it forming benzoate of potash, whilst the rest is completely oxidized, form- ing water and carbonic acid. Aniline reduces the solution of the permanganate in the cold ; oxalate and carbonate of potash are formed. Lastly, ammonia decomposes the solution of the reagent in the cold, nitrogen being evolved. No nitrate is formed. — Qhem. Graz., Oct. 15, 1858, from Comptes Rendus, June 7, 1858. 6 82 VARIETIES. fcarte ties. Binocular Vision. — Of the thousands who gaze with delight upon the magical effects produced by that small instrument known as the stereo- scope, how few there are who comprehend, or attempt to assign reasons for, the extraordinary optical illusions experienced through its instrumen- tality. It is with the view of, in some degree, elucidating the principles of vi- sion upon which these are founded, that the following article is written. It will in the first place be well to consider the difference between mo- nocular and binocular vision. Nature has furnished us with several means of determining the distance of objects which may happen to come within reach of our visual organs. One is that of distinctness ; a greater or less degree of which — other things being equal — gives an idea of greater or lesser distance in the object viewed. The second is through the change of focus required in the lens of the eye in refracting to a point on the retina, rays of light entering it with a greater or lesser degree of parallelism, thus producing in the brain a consciousness of unequal distances in the objects from which they emanate. The means above alluded to, it is evident, are enjoyed in almost the same degree, when viewing with one eye as where both are used. By far, however, the greatest power with which nature has endowed us of discriminating distances, is through the agency of binocular vision ; or in other words, in the sensation produced in the brain by the different de- grees of convergency of the optic axes required in obtaining distinct vi- sion of the differently distant points of objects upon which they are di- rected. It is to this faculty that we are indebted for our most palpable evidence of differential distances, and for that consciousness of solidity and relief so remarkably experienced in the stereoscope. It is evident, for example, when we are looking at a house or other ob- ject that has depth as well as breadth, from such a point of view as to ena- ble us to see two sides of it at once, that we receive a differently perspec- tive image upon the retina of either eye, or that we must see more of one side and less of the other with the right eye than with the left, or vice versa. Thus accomplishing with one view what a person with but one eye would require two views at positions two and a half inches apart — the dis- ance between the eyes — to accomplish. These are the different perspec- tive views of the stereoscopic cards, and it is the effort to reconcile these dissimilar pictures by converging the optic axes at points differently dis- tant from the eyes which produces the wonderful effects above alluded to, \ VARIETIES. 83 and which enables us to experience all the sensations of delight which would be produced by the contemplation of the landscape itself. The stereoscopic pictures will of course never quite correspond. They are taken simultaneously with a camera constructed with two lenses, or consecutively with a camera with one movable lens. The lenses of the stereoscope, besides magnifying the pictures, are so placed as to unite certain similar points of them, thus relieving the eyes of too great effort by uniting them entirely by convergency of the axes. The means above alluded to, by which we are enabled to judge of differ- ential distances, are of course much diminished by the distance that the objects viewed are removed from us. Our consciousness of different distances by distinctness is diminished through decrease of light. Our judgment, through change of focus, is diminished in consequence of the parallelism of rays from distant objects being so nearly the same as to require but little change in refracting them to a point on the retina. And lastly, the binocular effect is in a great degree impaired through the iden- tity of distant views when seen from positions only separated by a base of two and a half inches. Nature has thus observed her usual economy in providing for our neces- sities alone. It being of little comparative importance to us generally, to be acquainted with the relative positions of distant objects, whereas our personal convenience and even safety depend greatly on our knowledge of those near at hand. We are therefore provided with much more ample means of determining the latter than the former. It may not be out of place here to allude to another subject immediately connected with vision. Sir David Brewster says, in allusion to the cause of erect vision from an inverted image, " That it has long been a problem among the learned." And further remarks, " That it is perfectly explained by the law of visible direction." Now, although it is evidently a consequence of that law, the question arises, why should we see objects in a direction perpendicular to the retina at the point where their image meets it? In truth, it is one of those facts that , requires no explanation, as there is nothing inconsistent or irrational in it. There is no more reason that an inverted image should give us the idea of an inverted object, than that the reverse should be the case, cr that it should give the idea of a horizontal one. There is no unity necessary be- tween the direction of an object and the direction of its image upon the retina. Nature has so associated impressions upon the retina with im- pressions on the brain, that an inverted image on the former is evidence of an erect object to the latter. And we have no consciousness of anything to the contrary, — Jour. Frank. Ins. Dec. 1858. W. 84 PHARMACEUTICAL MEETINGS. Eleventh month 9th, 1858. At a Pharmaceutical Meeting of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, donations to the Cabinet were presented by Dr. Bridges, in the name of Mr. Kobinson, of Newport, being specimens of Chinese dyes, one known as Henny Lok, the other used to change the blue color produced by the first to a green. S. S. Garrigues presented specimens of genuine Sumatra Camphor, known also as Borneo Camphor, (Dryobalanops Camphora, Colebr.) This camphor is obtained in small masses from the longitudinal cavities of the trees, and commands in the Chinese market from twenty to forty dol- dollars per pound. Also a specimen of Liquid Socotrine Aloes from Daniel Hanbury, of London. Prof. W. Procter, Jr., presented specimens of Fluid Extracts of Squills, Butternut, Calisaya Bark, Ipecac, Mandrake, Conium, &c, as prepared by H. Thayer, of Boston, also a specimen of White Huckleberry (Gaylussacia resinosa, Gray) from Huntington County, Pennsylvania ; also a specimen of Kaolin from South Carolina. Donations to the library were received from Wilson H. Pile. W. Procter, Jr., presented a photographic view of the American Phar- maceutical Association, as taken during their late visit to the tomb of Wash- ington at Mount Vernon. Dr. Bridges exhibited a quantity of Sulphate of Magnesia, as obtained in the form of an inflorescence from the side of a flue, formed by the de- composition of the mortar, through the action of the acid fumes from the coal fires ; it appears that a large portion of the limestone from the neigh- boring localities used for making the mortar, contain quite a consider- able amount of magnesian ores, thus accounting for its presence in the wall. Prof. Procter, Jr., then read some extracts from the proof sheets of a paper by S. M. Colcord, of Boston, " On the Professional Intercourse be- tween Physicians and Pharmaceutists, which produced some general re- marks from many of the members present ; after which, adjourned. S. S. Garrigues, Sec. Twelfth month 7th, 1858. Quite a large attendance of members and others interested in the pro- gress of Pharmacy. E. S. Wayne, of Cincinnati, was introduced to the mem - bers present. The committee on the library reported the following donations and de- posits of books since the last Pharmaceutical Meeting. PHARMACEUTICAL MEETINGS. 85 From Edward Parrish, 7 volumes ; Samuel F. Troth, 10 do.; Thomas P. James, 21 do.; Samuel N. James, 28 do.; Total 66. Deposited by Samuel F. Troth, 19 volumes ; Publication Committee, 6 do.; Total 25, A copy of the Proceedings of the Seventh Annual Meeting of the American Pharmaceutical Association, was presented by S. S. Garrigues in the name of the Association. Donations to the Cabinet. From F. L. Johns, specimen of Chinese sac musk; the interior of this being nearly filled up with pieces of leather, lead, &c. In fact, the getting up of the sac was well calculated to deceive the best judges, and it has no doubt been prepared in China; also two varieties of Chinese fly (Mylabris cichorii.) C. Bullock, presented a specimen of a cinchona bark from Prof. Aikin, of Baltimore, it having been found in an invoice of cinchona barks ; on com- paring it with a specimen in the College Cabinet, it proved to be Cinchona bicolorata. William Procter, Jr., exhibited a specimen of the Botany Bay Kino, being the concrete juice of the Eucalyptus resinifera ; also the juice of the same tree in a liquid form. These specimens are from S. W. Osgood, formerly of New York, now of Davenport, Iowa, and are described in a note to the Eleventh Edition of Wood and Bache's Dispensatory. According to Prof. Procter, it is entirely soluble in alcohol, and contains 67 per cent, of matter soluble in water. E. Parrish exhibited quite a number of chemical and pharmaceutical products, such as pulverulent extract of Nux Vomica, Belladonna, &c, oil of cumin, oil of eggs, oil of European wormseed, (Artemisia Vahliana, Kost,) Quinium, Asparagin, Kamala (Rottlera tinctoria,) Oxalate of Cerium, and a superior article of genuine Elaterium made by Allen & Hanburys. He also exhibited and explained the working of a neat French apparatus for making carbonic acid water in small quantities. He also called attention to the metallic foil on the corks of Blanchard's pill bottles, used to prove the impervious coating of the pills. In a bottle in his p >ssession, the coating being cracked, displayed the characteristic re- action of iodine on metallic surfaces. This fact appeared more important as disproving the asserted protection of the foil by a varnish, preventing its being attacked by the iodized vapor. One of the firm of Z. Locke & Co. made an exhibition of the so called non-explosive burning fluid, showing that it is quite as explosive as the burn- ing fluid made in the usual way. In his experiments before the meeting, the exhibitor expressed his opinion that the only protection against the explosions of burning fluid was to use the safety can, in which the openings were protected by wire gauze, thus preventing the flame from passing into the can. 86 EDITORIAL. E. S. Wayne being invited, exhibited some very interesting specimens of the products of distillation of cannel coal, as also that from the Seneca oil. All these oils are hydrocarbons, and are finding extensive use in the west for illuminating and lubricating purposes. The paraffine exhibited by him, as obtained from the same coal, was very fine, and it is supposed will at some future time take the place of white wax for many of the pharmaceutical purposes in which that article is now used. Paraffine is now being exten- sively employed, with the addition of a small per centage of stearin, in mak- ing candles. It specific gravity in a pure state is 0.850 to 0.890. After various remarks from those present, then adjourned. S. S. Garrigues, Sec. (Ebitorinl Department. Tilden & Co. and the Medical Journals. — There was a period within the recollection of many, when a large proportion of the vegetable ex- tracts consumed in the United States were made with so little regard to the rules which should guide the manufacturer in their preparation, that they but illy represented, in many instances, the drugs from which they were prepared. About ten or twelve years ago, the Tildens, acci- dentally becoming possessed of the shop and material of a seceder from the Shaker community, at New Lebanon, N. Y., after considering what was the best disposition to make of it, determined to continue the business of cultivating medicinal plants for the supply of pharmaceutists and drug- gists, and preparing vegetable extracts from the same. They soon saw the advantages that would arise to the medical profession, and conse- quently to their firm, if, for the crude processes then employed by the Shakers, they could substitute the vacuum pan, and after considerable outlay and exertions, succeeded in producing extracts by this process greatly superior to those by the old process. The example thus set by T. & Co. was soon followed by the Shakers and others, and there is no doubt at all that the general character of this class of preparations is much better than it was fifteen years ago, largely through their agency. The enterprise of Messrs. Tilden did not find sufficient scope to satisfy it in the class of preparations to which we have alluded. Fluid extracts coming into use, they seized the idea of supplying these too, made by their vacuum apparatus, and have manufactured them in great variety. Here has been one source of trouble. The indiscriminate application of a par- ticular process to a great variety of drugs of varied constitution, requires an intimate acquaintance with the constituents of these drugs, and their relation to menstrua and preservative agents, so as not only to extract the m EDITORIAL. 87 drugs effectually, but to preserve the important active ingredients in solu- tion with the least possible tendency to change in keeping, by variation in season and climate. Some of the preparations of Tilden & Co., who chiefly employ sugar as an antiseptic for these fluid extracts, have, it appears, proved unequal to resist the unfavorable influence of tropical heat, and the editors of the " New Orleans News and Hospital Gazette," having become cognizant of some of these, have commented on them with more severity than justice, more bitterness than truth. Urged on by the ambition of enterprize, this house, having earned a character for good preparations, determined to enlarge yet more the scope of its productions ; not satisfied with getting a large share of the business of making extracts for the supply of pharmaceutists, they go further, and claim to divide these extracts into doses, and sugar-coat them, thus strip- ping from the business of pharmacy one of its most legitimate functions. It is the misfortune of such enterprizes that they cannot remain stationary. They must retrograde or advance by an increasing production of novelties ; more and more complex and unwieldy becomes the machinery of business, till some of its distant movements get clogged by accidents flowing from its complexity. Such has been the experience of the Messrs. Tilden. An accidental substitution of pills containing tartar emetic for Plummer's pills, having occasioned some inconvenience to a patient, it was followed by an analysis and exposure. This house admits its custom of making up special formulae, varying from officinal usage, to meet special demands, and in this instance some of the modified Plummer's pills containing an equivalent of tartar emetic became accidentally substituted for true Plummer's pills. This result should be a lesson and caution to all such manufacturers to confine their operations to legimate channels. The New Orleans editor, and some others who have commented on the operations of this house, have taken special offence at their announcement of an improved compound cathartic pill without calomel. The compound cathartic pill is strictly an officinal preparation. Without calomel it ceases to be " the compound cathartic pill," and Tilden & Co. have no just right to assume the name of this valuable preparation to get into use a substitute, when it must be apparent to every one who reflects, that it tends to sanction that strong prejudice that exists throughout sections of this country against mercurial preparations, and especially among the numerous botanic and Eclectic doctors and their patrons. If the legitimate demand of their commerce requires the production of such a pill, let them supply it, but give it a proper name. If there is any manufacturing house in this country which owes its success to the countenance of the medical profession, it is Tilden & Co. ; though to their own enterprize in bringing their preparations to the notice of physicians, this recognition is mainly due ; hence none should be more conscientiously careful to keep to the well defined path of pharmaceutical rectitude in making their products. We wonder that 88 EDITORIAL. they should be willing to run the risk incurred by engaging in so many petty items, when the regularly recognized preparations of the Pharma- copoeia and dispensatories afford them so wide a scope. They have had, and still have, an admirable opportunity to take a firm and unflinching stand in upholding the purity and perfection of pharmaceutical products and manipulations, and on their true assumption of this position will de- pend their future success. There is one point on which we feel called to offer a caution. It is this : although unjust censure will not destroy the virtue of good extracts, no amount of praise or of puffing will make bad preparations good ; nor will it prevent their ultimate condemnation by physicians, though it may retard the discovery. Tilden & Company have had the confidence of the medical and pharmaceutical professions to a degree that it merits their utmost endeavors to retain. Let them keep to the strict letter of phar- maceutical authority in their manufactures. Let them refuse to issue imperfect preparations under any pretence of use for special applications: Let them give more attention to the manipulation of their laboratory, and less to the influence of the press, and their house will possess a basis of ex- cellence so broad and pyramidal, that editorial censures will prove as harmless as they are undeserved. Proceedings of the American Pharmaceutical Association at the Seventh Annual Meeting, held in Washington, D. C, September, 1858, with the Constitution and list of members. Philadelphia, 1858, pp. 488 octavo. The Executive Committee have, after much expenditure of labor, owing to the imperfections of several of the MSS. submitted to them, issued the volume of " Proceedings." As a whole, with a proper allowance for the circumstances under which it was produced, it is a production creditable to the Association and to the Executive Committee. We propose to give a sketchy outline of the papers it includes. These are divided into two sections, 1st. Reports of Committees, 2d. Scientific Reports and Essays; premising that the record of minutes is nearly the same as that already published in the November number of this Journal. The Report on the Progress of Pharmacy, by Frederick Stearns, occu- pies fifty-two pages and embraces a bird's-eye view of the leading observa- tions and discoveries in chemistry, organic and inorganic, having a phar- maceutical bearing, Practical Pharmacy, Materia Medica, Toxicology, Pharmaceutical Institutions, and the Sale of Poisons. It concludes with a catalogue of the literary publications of the past year bearing on pharmacy, and a list of the quantities of Drugs imported into New York during 1858. The chief value of this Report will be as an index to the subjects investi- gated during the year, references being made to the journals. The Syllabus of a Course of Study, intended as an aid to students of phar- macy, being a special report by Wm. Procter, Jr., occupies 66 pages, one-half EDITORIAL. 89 of which are in small type. It is well to state that the author of this report deemed the task so imperfectly accomplished, owing to the necessity of condensation to get it within reasonable limits, that he doubted the pro- priety of its publication by the Association, and suggested its reference to a committee. This committee reported in favor of its publication. The report on the Revision of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia occupies 44 pages, and is composed of sub-reports from Messrs. Carney, Meakim, Stearns, Melvin and Graham, which embrace many valuable suggestions that are now in a form to facilitate their study by all the revising com- mittees who are, or will shortly be, appointed by various medical or phar- maceutical bodies. It will be well for apothecaries who feel an interest in the improvement of pharmaceutical processes to try many of these sugges- tions, and give, either through the journals or to the committee appointed to revise these reports, the results of their examination. The report on Home Adulterations, by Prof. Guthrie, was noticed in our last number. « That on Local Unofficinal Formulae" is brief compared with the report of last year. The paper of Frederick Stearns on " the Medicinal Plants of Michigan," exhibits great industry on the part of the writer, and the great richness of the flora of Michigan. We have made a few extracts from this report, which will be found at page 28 of this number, on Abies canadensis, Carya amara, Gaultheria procumbens and Ulmus fulva. The remarks of Prof. Grahame on Displacement embrace several sug- gestions meriting attention and will be read with profit. The next paper, on Tobacco, has already been published in our last. The paper on Blue Mass, by Charles Bullock, is particularly worthy of attention, and developes some results in reference to the solubility of mer- curial compounds not generally understood. E. Dupuy's paper on Saccharides will be found interesting ; and that on Podophyllin, by Dr. Stabler, is in our last number. The next, an Essay on Wild Cherry bark tree, by Wm. Procter, Jr., gives a general history of the preparations derived from that tree, with some suggestions on the use of the distilled water of the leaves in lieu of the Cherry Laurel water im- ported from Europe. Dr. Donnelly's paper on the Brazil nut tree [Berthol- letia excelsa] and its products, is accompanied by a beautifully executed lithograph engraving of the fruit and leaf copied from an oil painting accompanying the report. Dr. Battey's report on Southern Arrow Root is also illustrated by an engraving of the machine used in rasping the root. It consists chiefly of the results of Messrs. Cooper and Hallowes, which show that no obstacle exists to the abundant production of arrowroot in Georgia, the culture of the plant being nearly that of the sweet potato. The paper of John M. Maisch, on the Detection of Adulterations of Vol- atile oils, is a valuable contribution to practical pharmacy, and deserves careful perusal. It brings together all that is known on this difficult sub- 90 EDITORIAL. ject, and embraces many useful suggestions regarding the application of the tests, especially Heppe's test with nitro prusside of copper. We hope to be able to publish this paper in a future number. The paper on " Professional Intercourse between the Apothecary and physician," by Samuel M. Colcord, discusses a matter interesting to every dispensing pharmaceutist. The writer is entirely candid in the discussion, and handles some features of the subject without gloves. Its reading at the Association was the occasion of considerable discussion, which arose chiefly from the following paragraph : a It is a fact well known to our profession, that to educate a competent dispenser, who can pass a good examination at our schools of pharmacy, requires more time, closer application, attentive study and better mani- pulation, than it does to acquire knowledge sufficient to obtain, in our medical schools, the degree of M. D., and it is almost an invariable rule that physicians who abandon the profession of medicine for that of pharma- cy make the poorest apothecaries. 13 The consequences arising from carelessly written prescriptions are gra- phically portrayed, and the interference of physicians with the business of apothecaries. Mr. Colcord thinks that where errors occur in prescriptions the apothecary should return the recipe to the patient with his reasons for not dispensing it. We d» not agree with the writer on this point. We believe it is the interest of the apothecary that all such errors should be kept from the knowledge of the patient, as not only destroying confidence in the prescriber, but as reacting against the apothecary by exciting sus- picions and doubts in regard to other occasions. In allusion to the habit of certain physicians interfering with the busi- ness of apothecaries by sending their patients to other stores, he justifies the physician when he knows that such apothecaries are incompetent, but deprecates such course when it is a mere whim. " It is not uncommon or improper for a physician, on reasonable grounds, to recommend a change of apothecaries, and why should it under similar circumstances be considered wrong for apothercaries to advise a change of physicians'? For I hold that apothecaries are as good judges of the profes- sional qualifications of physicians, as physicians are of apothecaries. It has often happened to me, and I presume it has to many of our profession, that friends of the patient, in a state of great anxiety, have made earnest appeals to us for opinions as to the qualifications of their physician, and under circumstances when a direct answer could scarcely be avoided j and I hold that in such cases, when sure that our opinions are correctly formed, we are bound to give them to our customers, whether adverse or favorable to the physician ; for in the one case greater confidence is placed in the treatment, which is always beneficial to the patient ; and in the other, who of us have not known of rapid recovery occasioned by a change of medical adviser and treatment ? " We are not to suppose, because our intercourse with physicians pre- sents so many objectionable features to us, that they have nothing to complain of in the management of our affairs, relating intimately or re- motely to our intercourse with them. The statistics of ©ur profession EDITORIAL. 91 would show plainly, that a majority of dispensers in this country are in- competent properly to perform the duties intrusted to them. For this reason we are accountable, in a great measure, for the degree of con- tempt heaped upon us by them. Were we to change places with them, we should hardly be willing to have our prescriptions compounded in ihe manner and of the materials that too often falls to the lot of theirs, even when the most common articles are prescribed. What well edu- cated pharmacien, were he a physician, would be willing, on his pre- scription, to have the Spirit of Mindererus put up as frequently found in our stores, or the common article of cathartic pills, as found in many establishments considered quite respectable, or infusions made doubtful by using fluid extracts or concentrated tinctures to save trouble, instead of conforming to the officinal formula; or plasters and many other phar- maceutical preparations, from the laboratories of men of doubtful reputation, and which are known to be wanting in the qualities necessary to give them remedial value? Then again, knowing the ignorance and carelessness of a large portion of dispensers, who though they do not stand well in our pro- fession, yet occupy responsible situations, what guarantee has the physician that his prescriptions, will not fall into the hands of those who are deficient in the knowledge and judgment sufficient to select articles of known purity, and who are incompetent to compound them so as to insure their greatest remedial power? "It seems to me that the temptation is a very strong one, for a good physi- cian to send his patients where he feels sure their wants will be properly supplied, even though he may pass by some equally deserving member of our profession, to the injury of his business. The only cause for censure that we can have, is when unfair means are used, or when the physician wilfully shuts his eyes to the qualifications of his nearest apothecary, for the benefit it may be of an acquaintance no better qualified. "I must say, that were I a physician, I should be very careful into whose hands my prescriptions fell, and should feel it a sacred duty to my patients, to know who were, and who were not reliable. If physicians would take more pains to ascertain the qualifications of dispensers, it would soon make a manifest improvement in our profession, and in their success." We would like to quote some other items, but our space does not per- mit. On the whole, we believe Mr. Oolcord has spoken out many truths in an open manly way that will carry conviction with them, and though not pleasant to hear, will do more good than harm to both physicians and apothecaries. The papers of T. P. James on the Culture of Liquorice, and F. Stearns on the Application of our Native Wines in Pharmacy, deserve attention. Of all the papers submitted to the Association, none were more practically useful and at this time available, than the excellent contribution of Dr. Edward R. Squibb, on the Processes of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia needing Amendment, which occupies 44 pages in the proceedings. Our readers will find at page 49 an extensive quotation from this report. The re- maining items are Dr. Guthrie on Indigenous plants, Dr. Thayer on Con- centrated Medicines, Mr. Tilden on Medicinal Extracts, Mr. Merrill on Alcohol as a Solvent of medicinal matter and Mr. Stearns on the Pepper- mint Plantations of Michigan. The two last we have published entire in the preceding pages. The style of getting up this volume of Proceedings 92 EDITORIAL. is not only creditable to the liberality of the Association, but exhibits an amount of labor and attention on the part of the Executive Committee that merits the warm approval of the members. An Inaugural Dissertation on Strychnia: — presented to the Medical Faculty of McGill College, May 1st, 1858, prior to receiving the degree of Doctor in Medicine and Surgery. By Alexander P. Reid. Montreal : 1858. pp. 39, octavo. The author of this Essay appears to have given a careful stady to the im- portant subject which he treats, and goes over the whole ground of its his- tory, preparation, characters, tests, physiological effects on vegetables and animals, post mortem appearances, uses, administration, and antidotes. About a third of the work is devoted to the sails of strychnia. The account of these is very detailed, and includes thirty distinct compounds. The author found ioduretted iodide of potassium the most sensitive test for strychnia, producing in solutions of strychnia a very insoluble precipitate, to which he gives the name "Ioduretted Hydriodate of Strychnia.*' We should like to make a number of extracts from this Essay, and may proba- bly recur to it again, but the following will give a good idea of the author's style and method. Speaking of the proposed antidotes to strychnia, he ob- serves : "Since it is so difficult, if not impossible, to get any chemical antidote, I have thought that some agent might be met with which would counteract it physiologically. Such an agent I expected to find in hydrocyanic acid : it acts in general in a contrary manner to that of strychnia, causing at times rather paralysis than spasm. Accordingly, I placed one-sixth of a grain under the skin of the back of a cat, and when the convulsions became apparent, and respira- tion had almost ceased, I poured some of the acid on the same spot. In a few seconds the spasms ceased, and the limbs, before rigid and inflexible, became quite flaccid. The animal appeared to be profoundly narcotised, but it began to respire deeply ; the parietes of the chest expanding to the fullest, but the breathing was very slow. It remained in this state for several minutes, but gradually the respirations became weaker, and soon ceased in death. The effects in this case were similar to those mentioned by Pereira, who used conia instead of prussic acid. I tried the acid on others that had taken the alkaloid by the stomach; but on account of the difficulty ex- perienced in introdncing the acid into the stomach, its physiological effects were not obtained. However, considering all things, I think with the excep- tion of chloroform and conium, that prussic acid is the best antidote we have got ; but as neither the acid nor conium have been very fully inquired into, their relative merits can scarcely be decided on. Of the two prussic acid has the advantage, that it can always be easily obtained.' In its use we should not be too lavish, as it even exceeds strychnia in energy, and should only be exhibited in small quantities at a time, not enough to be directly poisonous. It should, if possible, be given immediately on the ingestion of the alkaloid, or as soon as possible afterwards. It might have the effect of deadening the sensibility of the stomach to the action of the strychnia, and thus allow of time to try the stomach-pump, or emetics if this were not at hand. These latter, have not, however, been reported upon very favorably. EDITORIAL. 93 la extreme cases, a solution of tartar emetic might be injected into the veins, which would be a very probable means of obtaining the desired result. If prussic acid only were given, and it were successful in preventing the spasms, its action would be temporary, and should not be trusted to alone. It might possibly have the power, by continual exhibition in small doses, of only allowing a small amount to be absorbed at a time. If it were only given after the poisonous effects became well marked, it would, in all pro- bability, relieve the intense pain which is endured, and thus smooth the path to the grave. It could not act chemically, because the hydrocyanate is fully as powerful a poison as the pure alkaloid. Selections from Favorite Prescriptions of living American Practitioners. By Horace Green, M. ;D. LL.D., &c. New York : Wiley & Halsted, 351 Broadway, 1858. pp. 206, octavo. At first glance, one would suppose from the title of this book, that Dr. Green, having had access to a number of prescription files of Apothecaries, had concluded to make a selection from them for the benefit of the physi- cian. Such, however, is not the origin of the book. The author has for years past made it a custom to record the " favorite prescriptions" of his numerous medical friends and ^visitors communicated to him at his own re- quest, these physicians representing all portions of the Union. Out of two large MSS. volumes thus gathered, he has collected the work now before us. The formulae are arranged in a therapeutic order, beginning with Nar- cotics and Sedatives, Tonics and Stimulants, Excitants and Alteratives, Ca- thartics and Laxatives, Emetics and Expectorants, Astringents, &c. As it is beyond our province to judge of the therapeutical merits of these recipes, we will confine our observations to a brief notice of some of their pharma- ceutical features. In glancing over the formulae, we observe that the author is not a strict nomenclaturist as regards our own or any other Pharmacopoeia. For in- stance, Hydrocyanic acid is prescribed with the affix " Medicinalis," in- stead of " Dilutum." The London expression l< Quinise Disulphatis v is generally employed. The Genitive of Camphora is called "Camphori^7 Zingiberis, 11 Zinziberis," &c. Among the novelties, Fusel Oil is recom- mended as a medicine in tuberculous cases as a substitute for cod liver oil, with the effect of fattening the patient ; dose from half to a drop for a child six months old, and five to ten drops for an adult. An acetic solution of strychnia is recommended as an officinal preparation of the strength one grain to the fluid ounce with five drops of acetic acid to the grain. The menstruum is water containing one-twelfth alcohol. Dose ten to thirty drops for an adult. A mixture of one part of calomel with eleven parts of sugar intimately mixed by trituration for fifteen minutes, is considered much increased in power by the commination, &c. The formulae are, in many instances, followed by therapeutical comments, which add much to their value and interest. The book is neatly printed on good paper, and will doubtless be valued by that numerous class of medical 94 EDITORIAL. practitioners who prefer the prescription of others to the trouble of adapt- ing medicines themselves. Brief Expositions of Rational Medicine, to which is prefixed the Paradise of Doctors, a Fable. By Jacob Bigelow, 'M. D., late President of the Massachusetts Medical Society. Boston : Phillips, Sampson & Co. 1858. pp. 169, 12mo. This little pamphlet is an attempt in the same direction as the work of Sir John Forbes, noticed in our last number, 11 Nature and Art in the Cure of Disease." Dr. Bigelow has evidently lost his early faith in the Materia Medica, and is now an advocate of " Rational Medicine," which means much or little, according to who is the exponent of its doctrines in his daily practice. With some it is practically a sort of medical atheism, where lost faith in the curative powers of medicine is not replaced by any decided system of action as a substitute. In others, it is merely placing Drugs in a subordinate position, and resorting to their aid at the proper moment, when the recuperative powers of the system need a helper. The latter is really the practice of a large number of able practitioners, who see in their course, not a new system of u Rational Medicine," but that safe middle path, which enables the physician to resort to those means, be they natural or artificial, which meet the case in hand. The Doctor's fable is amusing, but rather verbose, and, as a piece of pleasantry, lacks spice and animation, and might have been better said ; nevertheless its moral points to the subject following it. Physician's Handbook of Practice for 1859. By William Elmer, M. D. New York : M. A.Townsend & Co., No. 377 Broadway, 1859. We called altention last year to this useful little medical annual, intended to facilitate the process of recording daily visits, obstetric and surgical cases, etc. in a systematic manner. Attached to the Diary blanks, and preceding them, is a very much condensed classification of diseases, and list of the materia medica, with pharmaceutical preparations, intended to revive the memory in the course of daily practice, occupying about one hundred pages. Its usefulness as a diary addresses itself to every physician, and its printed matter to those whose stock of ready knowledge needs a little aid during their daily routine. CLASS OF THE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. 95 CATALOGUE OF THE CLASS OP THE PHILADELPHIA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY FOR THE THIRTY-EIGHTH SESSION, 1858—59. With a List of their Preceptors and Localities. Matriculants. Town or County. State. Preceptors. Aisquith, C. W. Allen, Harvey Charlestown, Memphis, Philadelphia, Bache, T. H. Ball, William Bell, W. D. Hagerstown, Bolton. Joseph P. Germantown, Boyd, John W. Cleveland, Bryan, John E. Philadelphia, Buchanan, fm. F. " Bowman, Alpheus H.St. Georges, Carpenter, G. W., Jr. Germantown, Wilmington. Philadelphia, Mount Holly, Cumbrick, Claypoole, John Clothier, Wm. P. Collom, Charles Colman, Francis A. Cowan, J. F. Cowell, C. M. Creecy, Wm. Pryor Vicksburg, Cresswell, James A. Newtonia, Dare, Charles F. Philadelphia, Davis, J. Newton Norristown, Dodson, Charles G. Philadelphia, Dupuy, Powhatan E.Richmond, Eberle, Charles L. Eyre, William Franklin, Thomas Fritsch, Herman Fronefield, Chas., Jr, Garwood, William T, Gaskill, Aaron Geyer, H. F. Gifford, Chas. W. Gifford, William H. Gregson, John Hansell, Amos Hansell, George Harry, D. W. Hayman, S. L. Heintzelman, J. A. Philadelphia, « Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Tuckerton, Philadelphia, Rancocas, it Montgomery Co. Washington, Biberach, Virginia. Tennessee. George J. Scattergood. 0. R. Livermore. Heydenreich, Emile Soultz-sous-fovetsFrance Pennsylvania " J. Bispham. Maryland. 0. S. Hubbell. Pennsylvania Dr. Wm. H. Squire. Ohio. Hassard & Co. Pennsylvania J. C. Dawes. " William F. Buchanan. Delaware. French, Richards & Co. Pennsylvania George W. Carpenter. Delaware. R. S. Christiani. Pennsylvania J. Lewis Crew. New Jersey. Wetherill & Bro. Wm. Hodgson, Jr. N. Carolina. Thomas Lancaster. Mississippi. Edward Parrish. Mississippi. Wm. Taylor. Pennsylvania George W. Vaughan. " F. Zerman. " Blair & Wyeth. Virginia. Frederick Brown. Pennsylvania A. Rex, M. D. " John H. Ecky. Pennsylvania Marks & Co. Prussia. Emilius Herwig. Pennsylvania Fronefield & Co. Pennsylvania Bullock & Crenshaw. " Jenks & Ogden. ££ Jenks & Ogden. " John C. Savery. New Jersey. Dr. R. Keys. Pennsylvania Paul G. Oliver. New Jersey. French, Richards & Co. " French, Richards & Co. Pennsylvania J. Henry Abbott. D. C. Charles Ellis & Co. Germany. Dr. J. R. Angney. Daniel S. Jones. Jefferson, Charles L.Philadelphia, Jones, William R. " Pennsylvania A. H. Yarnall. " Jenks & Ogden. Keffer, Frederick A. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Beates, Jacoby & Miller. Kemble, James Chester Co. " John Goodyear. Kennedy, Frank Belvidere, New Jersey. Charles Shivers. Kemble, Henry B. Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Charles Ellis & Co. 96 CLASS OF THE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY. Matriculants. Town or County. Lancaster, T. A. Frankford, Levy, Lewis Trenton, Link, Ferdinand, Wurtemburg, Lize, Alexander A. Rouen, McGrath, Charles Mcllvain, J. L. McKee, James H. McLeroth, Alex. H. Macpherson, W. Y. Mecray, Alex. M. Moore, J. W. Morell, C. M. Philadelphia, Chicago, Philadelphia, Cape Island. Philadelphia, Hestonville, Newman, George A. Chambersburg, Notson, Charles B. Philadelphia, State. Preceptors. Pennsylvania William Hodgson, Jr. Tennessee. Charles Ellis & Co. Germany. Dr. L. E. Nordman. France. A. Tatem. Pennsylvania A. F. Hazzard & Co. " William B. Thompson. " Moyamensing Dispensary. Illinois. Edward Parrish. Pennsylvania Miller & Elliott. New Jersey. Joseph C. Turnpenny & Co. Pennsylvania T. Morris Perot & Co. Pennsylvania C. M. Morell. " Blair & Wyeth. " Dr. William Notson. " Dr. James Bond. Ott, Abraham Philadelphia, Pennsylvania T. N. Penrose. Parrish, Wm. G. Petry, Emile Pile, Wilson H., Jr. Philadelphia, Rankin, Alfred J. Shippensburg, Reel, Joseph Philadelphia, Rhoads, Elam Norristown, Richards, George K.Philadelphia, Robbins, James W. Bordentown, Rulon, Edwin Swedesboro, Scott, Henry A. Cooperstown, Seeger, Roland Philadelphia, Sheridan, John J. " Siddall, Robert J. •< Smart, Thomas H. " Smith. TheophilusH. " Smith, Wm. Moore. " Smyser, George M. York. Thomas, Lancaster Thomas, J. J. Philadelphia, Uhler, Algernon S. Philadelphia, Vogelbach . " Wagner, Joseph Philadelphia, Ward, John " Wendel, John . «' Wilson, James York, Wyeth, Frank H. Philadelphia, New Jersey. Thomas J. Husband. France. A. B. Durand. Pennsylvania Dr. Wilson H. Pile. Pennsylvania Rankin & Co. " John C. Baker & Co. " Wm. Stahler. " R. C. Davis. New Jersey. John W. Simes & Co. " Ambrose Smith. New York. Edward Parrish. Pennsylvania Caleb H. Needles. " R. Kilduffe. " John C. Baker & Co. " Henry Horn. " Beates, Jacoby & Miller. " Caleb R. Keeny. u William Procter, Jr. Pennsylvania Robert Shoemaker & Co. Pennsylvania Dr. George Uhler. " J. W. Bley. Pennsylvania J. Wagner. » William M. Reilly. " John Horn. " John P. Curran « Blair & Wyeth. to THE AMERICAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. MARCH, 1859. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. By Edward Parrish. (Continued from page 17 .) Having at the close of the previous essay taken leave of the Manchester pharmaceutical establishments and chemical works, I proceed to remark upon the general character of the shops in some of the other towns. Those in Oxford and Leamington were noticed as particularly elegant, rich mahogany fittings and plate- glass windows and show-cases giving them a fine finish. At Chester, amid the ancient buildings of that unique old town, I noticed several very handsome pharmaceutical shops, one in particular, in which the appropriate arrangement of mirrors gave a great apparent increase of length to the room ; the shops are generally in the second stories of the buildings fronting on bal- conies which extend along perhaps the whole length of a street. To the unaccustomed eye the contrast is most strange, of costly mirrors, beautiful carved oak shop-furniture and commodious arrangements for dispensing, with ancient dwellings and places of business, in which all the necessary repairs are not permitted to interfere with the prevailing unique and antiquated appear- ance. In Liverpool some fine shops were also noticed. That of Clay & Abrams, Bold street, is one of the best conducted and largest ; it has besides the ordinary arrangements for compounding and dispensing medicines, a set of vacuum pans for the evaporation of solutions at low temperatures. Through the kindness of a member of this firm, T had an opportunity of spending an hour pleasantly and profitably in the Museum of the Liverpool Chemical Society, located in a 7 * 98 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. large apartment in the Royal Institute. A fine collection of spe- cimens of those departments of natural history pertaining to the study of pharmacy, and of rare and elegant chemical products, in a series of flat and upright glass cases arranged parallel to each other across the apartment, formed one of the most attrac- tive pharmaceutical museums I have ever visited. The mode of mounting and displaying specimens here and elsewhere in England, struck me as worthy the imitation of our colleges and natural history societies. Those which stand in upright cases near the line of vision are put into plain cylindrical bottles without shoulders and covered with a plate of glass, or into bottles made for the purpose, convex at the closed extremity and terminated at the open end by a ground stopper, so shaped as to form a stand for the bottle when it is inverted. For the specimens designed to be looked at from above, these inverted bottles are made of considerable diameter in proportion to their height, while some samples, such as nests of crystals, are placed on glass dishes and covered with a piece of plate glass or with a suitable bell glass. Besides the specimens belonging to the Chemical Society, which, of course, it would occupy too much space to dwell upon in this essay, the Royal Institute contained a great variety, three series of which especially interested me : 1st. Sugars as derived frem numerous sources and in their several states of preparation ; 2d, an extensive assortment of textile materials and fabrics, from all climes ; and 3d, a variety of products chiefly from palm oil prepared by Price's Candle Company, whose glycerine has obtained such an extensive sale in America. Some of these show a perfection in this branch of manufacture little suspected by those unacquainted with the recent progress of ap- plied science in this direction. " The General Apothecaries Company " have an extensive and elegant establishment in this city, and a less conspicuous one in Birmingham. This Company issue from time to time a publica- tion called the Record of Pharmacy and Therapeutics, which is intended to be sent to "every member of the profession in Great Britain and Ireland." Of the numbers which were fur- nished me, the first bears date in 1856, and in its preface states that " it has not unfrequently happened that new remedies and ♦ PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 99 preparations have been in use in the metropolis, on the continent of Europe or in America, for a long time before they have been generally known to, or adopted by the majority of practitioners." Even natural productions of value, it is said, " have never be- come available in practice, because no person has introduced them into commerce." The colleges, it is also urged, « only adopt into the Pharmacopoeias remedies having a reputation al- ready established, and, as a matter of course, these publications are always in arrear of the actual state of the art ;" hence the establishment of this Company, as a " professional body," for the systematic advancement of therapeutics. I quote one of the arguments used in this preface, which is so novel that it may be interesting to the readers of this essay. " The imper- fection and uncertainty which attaches to medicine, has had one cause very readily avoided. The preparation of medicine has been entrusted to a class of persons who, whatever may be their merits in other respects, make no pretensions to understand the treatment of disease, and who according to unquestionable testi- mony, either wilfully or negligently sell or employ in the pre- paration of prescriptions, spurious or adulterated drugs." It will be new to most pharmaceutists that a knowledge of the treatment of disease is requisite to an understanding of the preparation of medicines ; and as to employing adulterated medicines in compounding prescriptions, both common sense and experience go to prove that a class who make drugs and pre- parations their chief or exclusive study, would be more compe- tent to guard against this evil than those who add the cares of " general practitioners " to the legitimate practice of pharmacy. This "General Apothecaries' Company" must not be confound- ed with the Society of Apothecaries established in 1617, and during two centuries known as the proprietors of Apothecaries' Hall, in London, to which metropolis their charter confines them. The Company now alluded to as owning several depots in the principal towns of the United Kingdom, appears to be confined in its operations to manufacturing and trading, and the Record of Pharmacy and Therapeutics issued from its cen- tral establishment in London, is chiefly an advertising medium for their preparations, which are, of course, recommended as of the best quality, and wholly free from adulteration. The pre- 100 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. face from which I have already quoted closes with the following significant remark : " As economy is an important considera- tion in the choice of medicines, cceteris paribus, the Company in this publication have not overlooked it; the reader is on this point referred to the articles quinine and cinchona barks and rhubarb in the sequel." On reference to these we find the neutral sulphate of quinine recommended as an improvement on the disulphate, on account of its perfect solubility. Sul- phates of cinchonine and quinidine are favorably spoken of ; ammoniated solution of quinine is spoken of as a very elegant preparation ; liquor quinoidinse sulph., dose 5 minims and up- wards, is recommended as superior to sulphate of quinine, as an antiperiodic against fevers, &c. Citrate of quinine and iron of this make is said to contain 40 per cent, of citrate of quinine, a larger percentage than usual. Besides these, thirteen salts of quinine are spoken of; under the head of Valerianate of Qui- nine, Dr. G. B. Wood is quoted as recommending a combina- tion of Peruvian bark and valerian. I may remark here, that this eminent American authority is well and favorably known to the profession in Great Britain, where his book on "The Practice " is actually used as a text book in one or more of the colleges. English rhubarb, of which I purchased a sample, of this Company, is recommended in " The Record " as very nearly identical in its therapeutic action with the foreign varieties ; it is stated that the best samples of English yield about 52 per cent of extractive matter to cold water, East Indian 53 to 54, and Turkey not more than 55 or 57; and that when the differ- ence in price is considered, it will, it is trusted, be useful to general practitioners to be supplied with so cheap an article. Notwithstanding this statement and the alleged endorsement of Dr. Pereira, I found no reputable druggist andchemist willing to sell it as equal to the East India drug. Among the new remedies noticed at this establishment my attention was particularly arrested by the pyrophosphate of iron in pseudo-crystalline scales ; this preparation is stated to contain a small quantity of citrate of ammonia, which renders it readily soluble in water, the solution being nearly tasteless and permanent ; it is recommended in doses of 3 to 10 grains, to be PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 101 given in water or a bitter infusion, in cases of obstinate ansemia, and diseases of which that condition is a symptom. I failed in making this beautiful product satisfactorily in the only attempt I have made to prepare it; I found it too adhesive and deli- quescent to separate in scales, from the glass plate on which I poured the concentrated solution. Most of the preparations advertised by this Company are al- ready known in America, and many of them have been noticed in this Journal. Grlonoin, " of guarranteed purity, and uniform strength," is among the remedies offered. Chlorate of Soda is recommended as a substitute for chlorate of potassa ; it is said to be soluble in three parts of cold water, while the latter is soluble only in the proportion of 0 parts in 100 of water at 60Q. Iodide of Lime is another of their novelties ; it is sold in solu- tion made by boiling iodine with milk of lime, which is said to contain iodide of calcium and iodate of lime ; of the solution con- taining one grain of iodine to a fluid-ounce, the dose is 30 minims to two fluid- drachms ; the peculiar adaptations of this salt, are said to be in the treatment of neuralgia occasioned by mercury, lead, &c. From Liverpool let us next turn attention to Edinburgh, the chief seat of science in the North. The University is just about to close its summer course, and thither, across the deep ravine that divides the town, we wend our way. The purposes of this essay forbid a description of the ancient castle, with its legends of dar- ing emprise, and of the quaint old buildings with which it is surrounded, hallowed by many a thrilling story of the early times — of the church where John Knox thundered, the house in which he resided, and the spot where his bones moulder, though these are all in the old town, and in the vicinity of the object of our search. For nearly three hundred years, the University of Edinburgh has dispensed the benefits of a liberal education to the numerous students who have annually resorted to 11 the modern Athens," and for the last half century has enjoyed a re- putation inferior to no other institution of learning in Great Britain. In medicine, especially, it has excelled, and hence is especially worthy a short notice in our Pharmaceutical Notes. The present ample building, which was commenced in 1789, is a plain and very substantial structure, forming a parallelogram 102 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OP TRAVEL. enclosing an open court. It contains lecture rooms, class and reading rooms, museums, and a library. The museum of natural history contains a great variety of natural objects, and especi- ally a fine collection of birds ; some of the cabinets can be only partially exhibited for want of room. The Library, which con- tains about 100,000 volumes, is chiefly arranged on either side of a hall near 200 feet long, containing, among other objects of interest, a beautiful'statue of the Scottish bard, who, though no great advocate of learning, which his own humble education and the peculiar bent of his genius, scarcely prepared him to appre- ciate, has made an indelible impress upon the literature of his native land, and has given to Scotia, even in far off America, the synonym of the land of Burns. In the four faculties of theology, law, medicine, and art, there are thirty-two professors ; of these, I believe, only three or four, who are connected with medicine and its collateral branches, lecture in the summer. I had the pleasure of listening to Dr. Allman, Professor of Natural History, during one of his lectures on Physical Geo- graphy. By a curious coincidence, he was describing the great plains on the American Continent, and gave an eloquent des- cription of prairie scenery, which aroused the class into a burst of applause. The Professor invested his whole subject with a more rhetorical and graphic character than is customary on such occasions, and being dressed in a gown in token of the dignity of his office, struck me as in strong contrast to his colleague, Dr. Goodsir, one of whose summer lectures on Comparative Ana- tomy, I heard ; portions of the skeletons of the snake, the bird, and the reptile, were described minutely ; the specimens were, however, too small to be readily seen by the class, and the de- scription was devoid of ornament or illustration. The museum of this department is very extensive, especially the exquisitely prepared injections, illustrating minute structures. The arrange- ment for preserving dead bodies for dissecting purposes, appeared an improvement on any I had seen. Large wooden boxes are lined with thick plates of unpolished glass, cemented at the corners and ground on the edges to fit the top, which is similarly lined and readily moveable. They are said to serve an excellent purpose. The dissecting rooms of the University are ample, commodious, and well supplied with disinfecting facili- ties. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 103 Both the eminent naturalists just referred to, were fami- liar with the name and fame of Professor Leidy of the Universi- ty of Pennsylvania, and inquired after him with much interest, on being introduced to a Philadelphian. Prof. Christison was not lecturing at the time referred to, but through the good offices of my friend, Dr. Sandahl, of Stockholm, whose objects of study accorded closely with my own, I enjoyed an opportunity of visiting with him the splendid cabinet of Materia Medica. Each of the leading drugs may be said to con- stitute a separate cabinet, so numerous and varied are the speci- mens. The Opium series may be specified as one of the most in- teresting ; that of English make was shown as equal to any other ; the India variety, so extensively sold to the Chinese, is very uniform, and quite inferior. The Kino series contained nume- rous specimens ; the Jamaica variety was pointed out as very infe- rior,— "a mere extract." The numerous tinctures of kino all appeared to have gelatinized, equally, by time. The Cabinet of Poisons as would be supposed from the extended reputation of Prof. Christison as a toxicologist, is extensive and complete. Of the various methods of mounting wet specimens tried by Dr. Chris- tison, he prefers the use of a solution of common salt, the vessel to be tied over with varnished paper. At the Infirmary, a large hospital opposite the University, we saw an amputation performed by Dr. Spencer, assisted by Dr. Gillespie ; the operation was protracted, but accompanied through- out by the inhalation of chloroform. The surgeons and attend- ants were surprised to learn that in America ether is still used in many of our Hospitals and in private practice, as a safer and better anaesthetic. They use Duncan and Flockhart's chloro- form, and for the sake of economy prefer that made with me- thylated spirit, instead of pure alcohol. It is a common idea, by the way, that the ill effects sometimes experienced from the use of this ansesthetic are often attributable to its bad quality, from want of proper rectification to free it from the impurities which come over in the first distillation. The Botanical course of the University being in progress at the Botanical Garden in the suburbs of the New City, I gladly availed myself of the opportunity to visit this delightful spot at the hour of Prof. Balfour's lecture, which, as in the case of the 104 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. similar course in London, begins at 8 o'clock, A. M. The at- tendance was large, perhaps exceeding 100. The whole class numbers about 200, but many were absent owing to the Course being near its close. Prof. Balfour, who is widely known as a botanist, is a rapid speaker, with scarcely enough volume of voice for so large an apartment, but the subject was illustrated with a wonderful profusion of diagrams, and specimens of living plants. Monocotyledons, Smilacese, Orchidace?e, &c, were des- cribed, and considerable attention given to the subject of the pa- thology of plants. The excrescences from insect stings, ergot, dry rot, potato rot, &c, were treated of, also, the remedies to be applied to prevent the progress of these diseases. Some parts of the lecture were rather unsatisfactory, from the disorder and want of attention of a few of the class, who were at more pains to gratify an unseasonable playfulness than to avail them- selves of the opportunity of acquiring knowledge. The Museum connected with this fine Botanical school furnished us an object of study during the breakfast hour of the Professor. It con- tained specimens of several departments of natural history, and was occupied by two or three young gentlemen engaged in original microscopic investigations. A party of fifteen students was organizing, to accompany the Professor, at the close of the Course, on a botanical excursion to Switzerland. The arrangements made were admirable for economy, much of the travelling being on foot, and the lug- gage and personal accoutrements being confined to such as were absolutely necessary, each student, of course, carrying a suit- able tin case or portable press, for preserving specimens of the Alpine plants, collected by the way. It was with reluctance that I denied myself the proffered pleasure of joining this delightful party at Berne, to walk with them over some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, in quest of trophies which would have had an additional charm from the circumstances in which they were obtained. An hour spent in the Edinburgh Botanical Garden, will long be remembered as full of interest. It is one of the most beau- tiful spots in this beautiful country, and to the natural advan- tages of the location are added embellishments of perfect taste and liberality. A splendid palm-house, recently erected at an PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 105 expense of $60,000, contains a magnificent collection of tropical trees, — some of them of great age, — growing under glass, and maintained in a suitable atmosphere at great expense. A high tower, containing a water tank for supplying the es- tablishment, commands a fine view of the adjacent city, and its suburbs, with Leith and the distant sea. The hot-houses contain vast collections of curious and interesting plants, some of them now displaying their brilliant flowers. Among the curiosities shown us by the Professor and the scientific superintendent of the Gardens, were true Narthax Assafoetida, a rather sickly plant, which had been nearly killed by cold to which it had been accidentally exposed ; True Quassia, a small, but thriving plant ; Gamboge, which on being punctured with a pin emitted a bright yellow very adhesive exudation ; Cinchona Calisaya, as yet a small specimen ; a large Sago Palm ; a Matico plant ; and our own Poke, Phytolacca Decandra growing in the open air, and looking very familiar among strange associates collected from the four quarters of the globe. Prof. Balfour had just received a specimen of the Malapteru- rus or thunder fish of the Arabs from Calabar, Africa, and before liberating it from the globular bottle in which it had travelled so far, gave us an opportunity to test its shocking powers. The shock is so nearly identical with that of an electrical machine, that I had no difficulty in understanding how this comes to be classed with electrical fish. This specimen is about the size of our com- mon river catfish, and much the same shape and general appear- ance. The interest which attaches to the Edinburgh University and Botanical Gardens, especially to an American, long accustomed to associate the former with some of the most eminent of philosophers and quite unused to such attractions as the latter affords, has be- guiled me into these details, and prevented my approaching earlier the Pharmaceutical matters pertaining to this locality. The most interesting item to me, in this connection, was the introduction to a valued acquaintance, in the person of John Mackay, Chemist and Pharmaceutist, local Secretary of the London Pharmaceutical Society, to whose kindness I am in- debted for much information on matters pertaining to our pro- fession. 106 pharmaceuticalInotes of travel. The rooms of the Edinburgh Pharmaceutical Society are pleasantly located, and contain a neat cabinet, mounted somewhat in the manner referred to in describing the Liver- pool Cabinet. The most novel and interesting specimen was a nest of large and perfect crystals of Aloin, deposited by T. & H. Smith, of Edinburgh, the discoverers and manufacturers. This neutral crystalline principle, which has hitherto been known only by reputation in America, and the utility of which, as a remedy, has been doubted, is among the most beautiful of the organic proximate principles. It is considerably used as a mild, though tolerably certain cathartic, in doses of 1 to 3 grs. From the same manufacturers an elegant specimen of caffein was displayed in large silky tufts. The assortment of Cinchonas has been augmented by contributions from Prof.Christison, who has remem- bered the collection in disposing of many duplicates. Among the articles deposited by Mackay were some Egj^ptian Lentils, a very cheap and highly nitrogenised article of diet, which seemed worthy a more general introduction to use. Before leaving Edinburgh, I should speak of the gelatine manufacture, which is here carried on pretty extensively by J. & G. Cox who send large quantities of the article to America, where it is almost universally sold by pharmaceutists and grocers. John Mackay's pure extract of calves feet is design- ed as an improvement, being warranted to be obtained entirely from fresh calves feet, obviating the objection, of many physi- cians and nurses to the materials from which the ordinary gela- tine is said to be obtained, while the jelly it yields possesses a richness and softness to the palate in which jellies made from gelatine are usually deficient. Pharmaceutical organization is not in so great esteem in Scot- land as in some parts of England. The Chemists and Druggists are, many of them, in a small way of business, and the payment of five guineas initiation fee operates as a great objection to their becoming members of the London Society. There is no School of Pharmacy in Scotland, and the number of students7 who qualify themselves to appear before the Examining Board located in Edinburgh, is small. This is the more remarkable, from the known qualifications of some of the pharmaceutists to teach, and from the presence of the University with its elevating and inspiring influences. PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 107 The general practice of pharmacy seemed to me to compare favorably with that of any place I have visited, although the scale of prices for dispensing is much too low to be remunera- tive, except to the few who are well established. None of the licentiates of Apothecaries Hall practice here, and the term apothecary has a different meaning from that applied to it in London. The pharmaceutical shops are much in the London style, no handsome displays in front, but well furnished and complete within. Leaving Edinburgh for a sojourn among the Highlands, during which I enjoyed a fine opportunity of studying the character and habits of a large party of Scotchmen, all bent on pleasure and recreation, I found myself in a few days at Glasgow. Besides being a great seat of commerce and manufactures, this city is distinguished for its institutions of learning. Glasgow University College is a more ancient and venerable building than that of Edinburgh, and scarcely inferior in extent. The only parts accessible to a stranger at this time being the Senate Chamber, a long, narrow room, the stone steps at the entrance guarded by a lion and unicorn, the walls covered with curious and unique wainscoating, and furnished with cases and tables of massive proportions, — and the Hunterian Museum, which is a separate building in the rear of the University. This museum which is open to the public on the payment of a small fee, embraces an extended series of natural history speci- mens, a fine old library of the celebrated Dr. Wm. Hunter, a col- lection of paintings by old masters, some statuary, and a variety of antiquities. This is the only public museum that I know of, frequented by both sexes, that contains a complete series of anatomical preparations, monstrosities, specimens of the foetus in utero, and the numerous objects required in the illustration of a course of medical instruction ; six or eight very large obstetric manikins were conspicuously displayed. This University has recently paid a deserved compliment to American genius in the appointment of Prof. H. D. Rogers, to the chair of Natural History, though this distinguished teacher had not, at the period alluded to, entered upon his duties. There are ten professors in the medical department: one in theo- logy eight in literature and philosophy. Of these, only two were 108 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. lecturing at this late period in the summer, — the Professor of Botany, at the Botanical Garden, which I found a pleasant place to visit, but did not hear a lecture ; and the Professor of Chemistry, who holds his lectures in a building near the Uni- versity, containing the practical laboratory. This place I found one of great interest, the arrangements for instruction in practi- cal chemistry being more than usually complete, and each table having, all the necessary apparatus and material, even including a separate basin and hydrant. The importance of Summer instruction in Practical Chemistry seems to be recognised both here and in Edinburgh, although in the latter place, the laboratory was closed during my recent so- journ, perhaps on account of the lamented death of Dr. Gregory, whose place had but recently been filled. I heard the last lec- ture of the Summer course at Glasgow, the plan of instruction being novel and, I believe, peculiar to this institution. Two courses are conducted simultaneously, each class being limited to thirty. Upon narrow shelves or tables in front of each row of seats are arranged for each occasion, the necessary apparatus for experimenting upon the particular subject of the lecture, four or five students operating together, so that to a class of thirty, six or eight sets of apparatus are required. The exer- cises commenced with a general examination upon the subject of the previous lecture, after which the lecturer introduced the sub- ject of Carbonic Oxide, explaining the method of preparing it, and the rationale, w7hile his assistants at the counter, and the several groups of students, each with a retort and small pneu- matic trough, proceeded to generate and collect the gas. He then explained its properties and the methods of testing it, which were verified by the students with their several specimens. This method, though it has its advantages, seems imperfectly adapted to supercede laboratory instruction ; the attention of the students is too much divided between the explanations of the teacher, and the details of the experiment, while a single error in manipulation by any one student, leading to a slight explosion, the fracture of a retort, or other accident, by dis- tracting the attention of the whole class may break the thread of the instruction, and to some extent, defeat the object in view, This idea is the result of a single observation ; it is cer- PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. 109 tainly a great desideratum to teach experimental chemistry by a more popular and economical way than that ordinarily pur- sued in laboratories, and I was anxious to find in this an improve- ment on other methods. Would it not be better to separate the lecture from the manipulation, devoting a certain time to each, adopting the same plan of grouping the students into classes, but teaching the manipulations to each group separately ? It would not be just to the course of instruction upon which I have thus ventured to comment, to dismiss it without acknow- ledging the general familiarity of the class with the subject of the examination, the apparent efficiency of the instruction so far as the plan admits of it, and the great advantages furnished to those who availed themselves of the privileges of the practical laboratory. I shall always regret that for want of a personal acquaintance with Prof. Anderson, and an attendance at a more favorable period of the course, I missed of a better acquaintance with this method, aiming, as it does, at the simplifying and econ- omising the now expensive and tedious instruction in Practical Chemistry. The Andersonian University is another Glasgow school, hav- ing a good building, a tolerable museum, open to the public, (fee one penny,) and a practical laboratory. Dr. Penny, the professor of Chemistry was absent, and no course of lectures was in progress. This laboratory was furnished in a much cheaper style than that of the University ; the fees being only one guinea ($5 25,) a month, exclusive of the apparatus which the student is obliged to purchase for himself, and may keep in a separate closet, together with the products of his manipula- tions. Here, as in the University laboratory, gas is the chief fuel used, though instead of cylinders covered with wire gauze,such as we use, they employ cylinders open at both ends, tapering to. ward the top, and standing on wire feet. The tripods for hold- ing capsules and crucibles were made by taking three pieces of wire of equal length, bending them twice at right angles, and binding them together with fine wire. This Institution is of a popular character, having scientific courses of six months' dura- tion, adapted to apprentices as well as students qualifying them- selves for the professions. During a short stay in Glasgow, I met with one illustration of its advantages, not only in inspiring 110 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. a love of chemistry, but in imparting its leading facts and prin- ciples ; the lad who pointed out to me some of the facts which follow, was educated at this Andersonian school, and now finds employment in the largest chemical works in the world. Every one has heard of Tennant's great Chemical works, and such a description of them as my opportunities enable me to give may not be uninteresting. They are situated in the eastern part of Glasgow, in a suburb called St. Rollox, on a rail road which passes directly through the grounds, and a canal which skirts them. The works cover in about sixteen acres under roof, and their enormously high chimneys as I first saw them from the top of Ben Lomond, many miles distant, constituted one of the most conspicuous objects in the panorama of Glasgow. The principal chimney is four hundred and sixty feet high, seventy-five feet higher than the top of St. Paul's, and even ex- ceeding in height the tallest of the pyramids of Egypt. There are two other tall chimneys, one, three hundred and thirty, and the other two hundred and fifty feet high. They are built of brick, the largest being forty feet at the base. The object of such immense altitude in the flues is to carry the gaseous pro- ducts so high in the atmosphere as to prevent inconvenience to the surrounding population. These works are more remarkable for the vast quantities than for the variety of the chemicals produced. The chief articles of manufacture are Soda Ash, Carbonate of Soda, Muriatic and Sulphuric Acids, Bleaching Salts, and Soaps. By the action of sulphuric acid on chloride of sodium, sul- phate of soda is produced ; the muriatic acid given off is passed into large, square, stone chimneys, lined with pitch and filled in with charcoal. Near the tops of these are reservoirs, from which jets of water are thrown into the flues, which dissolves the gas in such large proportion that the liquid as it trickles out below has acquired the strength of commercial muriatic acid, and marks a sp. gr. of 1-116. The tops of these chimneys emit no smell of the acid gas. For the manufacture of bleaching salt, the muriatic acid is converted into chlorine by the use of black oxide of manga- nese ; the gas is then conveyed into a series of brick chambers containing the lime ; two of these communicate, and after two PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. Ill days the chlorinated lime is taken out of one, the other being filled with fresh, and so on alternately, each charge being thus subjected to the gas for two days. The workmen exposed to the action of this corrosive gas in the operation of charging , and emptying the chambers, appear to become so habituated to its effects as to live, judging from one specimen we saw, to a great age. The delicate tissues of the lungs and the lining membrane of the air passages, resist for years a corrosive action which completely destroys the teeth. The oxide of manganese, after serving its purpose of decom- posing the muriatic acid, exists in the state of chloride ; this is restored again to the condition of oxide for future use, by the following process : — it is first treated with lime, by which the iron is separated, and then with carbonate of lime which pre- cipitates carbonate of manganese ; this, by calcination, is con- verted into oxide for use again in the decomposition of muriatic acid. This process is a patent belonging to the concern, and the invention of one of the partners. The manufacture of sulphuric acid is carried on by a process, which is also, I believe, original with a member of this firm. The sulphur is burned in small furnaces, communicating with a large horizontal pipe ; into this is poured near one extremity, a peculiar acid mixture or compound called nitro-sulphuric acid, consisting of concentrated sulphuric acid saturated with nitric acid. When mixed with water this liquid has the property of giving off nitrous acid in profusion, and being discharged with water into the tube containing gaseous sulphurous acid, converts it into sulphuric acid ; this runs off into iron vats lined with lead which are heated till it is concentrated to a certain specific gravity ; these vats show a deposite of sulphate of lead, which, to a great extent, protects them from the action of the acid. The acid is now run into a platinum still, which is placed over a very hot fire, and the concentrated acid, as it runs off, is cooled by pass- ing through horizontal troughs of water, and into leaden cold water baths. The method of throwing the acid into receiving vessels in convenient positions for filling carboys without the aid of a pump, is by the pressure of air forced into the tubes. From the sulphate of soda left after the liberation of muria- 112 PHARMACEUTICAL NOTES OF TRAVEL. tic acid from chloride of sodium by sulphuric acid, the several alkaline products are made. The sulphate is mixed with char- coal in suitable brick furnaces and ignited, being constantly stirred with large iron rakes during the burning. It comes out a fused yellowish mass, which is broken up upon the hearth, lixiviated repeatedly, concentrated in iron vats ; for soda ash the evaporation is carried on to dryness, calcined and powdered ; it meets a ready sale and is one of the chief pro- ductions of the works, averaging about two hundred and fifty tons per week. The sal soda is produced by arresting the concentration at a certain point and running the lixivium into shallow iron vats, on the top of which, wooden strips are thrown, to promote crystal- lization, and after the carbonate of soda has been nearly all separated in this way the mother liquors are drawn off, by re- moving a plug, and evaporated to dryness, forming another quality of the soda ash. The yield of sal soda is about one hundred and fifty tons per week. The vast extent of the crystallizing room, with its numerous large vats, and the immense expenditure of force silently ex- erted by innumerable material atoms, marshalling themselves with mathematical precision into regular crystalline forms, is calculated to fill the mind with astonishment and admiration, and I shall long recollect it as one of the most impressive exhi- bitions of natural motive power it has been my lot to witness. Part of the soda ash is rendered caustic by quicklime and consumed in another part of the works in the manufacture of soap. Tallow mixed with palm oil and cocoanut oil, both of which latter are abundant in England, are used in the soap works. The boiling is accomplished by steam, in the usual way, about sixty tons of a very nice white soap being produced weekly. From what I observed in this branch of manufacture here and elsewhere, I do not think soap-making in England at all in advance of the art in our own country. The practice of pharmacy in Glasgow seemed to present lit- tle to distinguish it from that of Edinburgh or the principal towns of England. Many of the stores are large and well furnished and present every appearance of a prosperous business. The term apothecary is applied, as with us, to the regular profession of pharmacy, and seems to convey no idea of a practitioner of ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. 113 medicine and surgery. Within a few hours' ride by rail road, however, at the towns of Carlisle, Penrith, Ulverstone, &c, I found the prescription business very much in the hands of the surgeons and general practitioners, and the pharmaceutists re- duced to the level of dealers in drugs, domestic remedies, and household articles, including tea coffee and " sweets ;" as a con- sequence of this, the practice of the art is less thorough and scientific, and the people are the losers. (To be continued.) ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. By John M. Maisch. Of late there has been some discussion in pharmaceutical cir- cles concerning the most appropriate agent for preserving those valuable preparations, the fluid extracts. The tenor of these discussions makes it evident that the opinion has been gaining ground in favor of alcohol as the best menstruum, and in prefer- ence to an aqueous solution of sugar. The reasons for this pre- ference are principally twofold ; 1, that alcohol is a solvent for all medicinal principles produced by organic life ; and 2, that al- cohol is a more powerful antiseptic than sugar. The first allegation is a hypothesis of Mr. W. S. Merrill, which, though no positive proof for it has as yet been attempted, still has the appearance of being a fact in a large majority of cases, although not a universal law. I do not intend now to speak about this, but merely remark that, so far as it is true, its great- est influence would be exercised on the method of preparing the extracts, and more particularly on the menstruum employed du- ring that process, so that water would be more or less entirely dispensed with. The mere fact of the medicinal virtues of a plant being extracted by alcohol, does by no means exclude the possibility of preserving these principles in an aqueous liquid by means of sugar, so long as it has not been demonstrated that water or solution of sugar, is no solvent for them, or rather after it has 'been proven that they are soluble in such a liquid ; if insoluble, of course, that menstruum is inadmissible. The second reason has been advanced and argued by Mr. S 114 ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. Thayer, but I believe it does not cover the whole of that ground which he has assigned for it. It is doubtless true that the pres- ence of a certain proportion of alcohol tends to prevent, or, where it has commenced, to arrest the progress of vinous and even acetic fermentation, but vegetable matter of itself will not undergo these changes, unless principles are present which are able to act as ferments. Therefore, if we could succeed in re- moving such fermentative matter, the liquid, whether alcoholic or aqueous, could not undergo either fermentation. Of this matter, however, as it occurs in different plants, we know as yet too little, and in nearly all cases we will for this reason be deprived of the means for removing it. But on the other hand, vinous and acetic fermentation are not the only alterations to which organic matter is subject, a trans- formation of the elements and consequent change taking place wherever the air has access, but under different circumstances this change will be different. Berzelius, on speaking of the met- amorphoses of organic bodies, uses the following language : " Mixed organic bodies, when moist and at a certain temperature left to themselves, undergo changes, the end of which appears to be to decompose them into other combinations of the elements, and ultimately after a shorter or longer period, to transform them into inorganic compositions." And again in another place : " Nature's aim, it seems, is, not to grant stability to anything of an organic composition, but to gradually destroy it. Bodies that are perfectly pure, may in the solid state be kept unal- tered, and inmost cases for an indefinite period, oftentimes, their being surrounded by or dissolved in water, has no destructive influence on them. But if two or more bodies are mixed and ex- posed to the influence of moisture and air, a process of meta- morphosis is induced," &c. The change in the organic matter is caused by oxygen, it is an oxidation to which as we notice it in ordinary life accompa- nied by different phenomenon, we apply different names. Mould putrescence, fermentation, &c. are such changes, at the same time accompanied by the development of organic life. Alcohol has the power to prevent or retard these changes, and the cause for this power may be easily illustrated by the following well known simple experiment. Wet a beef or hog's bladder thoroughly with ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. 115 water,* and then dip it in alcohol, it will be dry instantly. The whole secret is, alcohol has the power of abstracting moisture from membranes and all similar substances, and in every instance mentioned by Mr. Thayer is this its office ; the unpeeled nutmeg, the fresh pear, the fermenting currant wine, the anatomical preparations and the fruit preserves are thus by alcohol preser- ved against further decomposition ; ic is in this way that alcohol kills the vegetable life of the process of fermentation, that it destroys the proneness of animal matter to putrefaction — and this property is what we term the antiseptic power of alcohol. But there are other forms of oxidation which do not announce themselves by the appearance of foreign organic life ; they pro- gress silently and uninterruptedly when once begun, as long as the necessary materials have not been used up. Though these changes are less visible, nevertheless we must assume that med- icinal organic bodies by oxidation, that is by an alteration of their chemical composition, likewise alter more or less their med- icinal properties. Whichever way we look upon the various processes of deterioration, we will always find oxygen to be the powerful enemy we must try to conquer in keeping all our pharmaceutical preparations. We therefore inquire which of the common menstrua used in pharmacy are most apt to assist in the process of oxidation, which do most readily absorb the at- mospheric gases ? If we look to the phenomenon presented by liquids before the process of boiling, we can partly receive a clue to an answer. Liquids, when they expand by the application of heat, gradually lose the power of retaining gases in solution, and long before they begin to boil, small bubbles formin different parts, but more especially in the neighborhood and directly above the source of heat, where the temperature is highest : these are air bubbles, which have nothing to do with the phenomenon of boiling, which takes place after a considerable quantity of air has been ejected. Now by watching liquids being heated in glass vessels to a certain temperature, the number and size of those bub- bles will enable us to form a tolerable estimate of the propor- tion of air absorbed. Such a rough comparison, of course, will never approach to scientific accuracy, but will be sufficiently so for experimental use. Alcohol and ether if at a low tempera- 116 ON THE PRESERVATION OP FLUID EXTRACTS. ture allowed to absorb a gas such as air, and afterwards heated to about 85 or 90° F. evolve the gas, but alcohol in smaller pro- portion than ether; the same is the case with alcohoLand water, at about 160° F., the air is ejected from alcohol in larger pro- portion than from water. However, on this very subject we have scientific researches by Saussure, jun. He established the fact that, even by a long con- tinued boiling, no liquid could be absolutely freed from the gas it had previously absorbed, but liquids with higher boiling point easier and more complete than those boiling at a lower tempe- rature ; the difficulty to rid our pharmaceutical'menstrua of at- mospheric air must therefore be greatest with ether, less with al- cohol, water, and I may add syrup. According to Saussure, 100 volumes of the following liquids, freed of air as much as possible, are able to absorb the following volumes of gases, viz ♦ Water, 106 C02 6.5 O, 4.2 N Alcohol, 186 CO, 16.25 O, 42 N Absolute alcohol, 260 C0.2 Ether, 217 CO, Syrup containing 25] pr. ct. sugar, J 72 With regard to the resorbent quality of liquids, Berzelius gives the following general rules : The capacity of liquids for the ab- sorption of gases increases in general with the decrease of their specific gravity, and with very few exceptions this capacity is lessened by the presence of a salt or other body ; the more solu- ble this is in the liquid, or the more of it is dissolved in a given measure, the smaller is the resorbent power of the liquid, or in other words the absorbing capacity of solutions is lessened by the increase of their specific gravity. The little table above is a strong evidence against the practicability of the use of alcohol, which absorbs 2 J times more of oxygen than water, and probably 5 times more than an equal volume of syrup. Alcohol therefore is the very liquid that furnishes the principal conditions for the convenient oxidation of vegetable substances, ready mobility and sufficient oxygen. Only in appearance, the experience of every day life is at variance with this assertion; for above it was shown that alcohol arrests putrefaction and fermentation merely by de- stroying vegetable and animal life, for the successful continuance ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS, 117 of which water is one of the paramount conditions. An arrest of one way of decay, does, however, not indicate the aptitude of alcohol to do the same in every direction, and proofs can be fur- nished that notwithstanding the presence of alcohol changes of organic matter do take place. Let every pharmaceutist examine his tinctures, any and all of them, and he will find, no matter how nice and clear they may have been directly after they had been finished, that after more or less time in ordinary contact with the air, such as is afforded in the common course of our business, that they have formed precipitates, from the minute and pulverulent settlings of tincture of cardamom, cantharides, gentian &c, to the more bulky and curdy sediment of tincture of krameria, the resinlike precipitate of tincture of bark, aloes, &c. or the gelatinous mass of tincture of kino. But it may be argued that if the alcohol had been substituted by water, the de- composition would have gone much further. This assertion is true, but with this difference, that the decomposition would have been in another direction, moulding, putrefaction would have taken place, water would have extracted quite different bodies, glutinous and albuminous substances which easily decay and ne- cessarily leid all organic matter with which they are in contact to the road of destruction. I have no intention of attempting to prove a superiority of water over alcohol as a menstruum, for in the presence of the former alone every conceivable way of decay may take place, while by alcohol two or three are excluded, and this is the real advantage in using it as a pharmaceutical menstruum. The is- sue, however, is not between water and alcohol, but between syr- up and alcohol ; and here let us look at some every day occur- rences in the pharmaceutical store. Syrup of rhubarb is made with an alcoholic menstruum of half the strength of that em- ployed for the tincture, and must necessarily contain a larger amount of gummy matter ; the latter being about one fifth stronger, if well made, will soon throw down a sediment, while the syrup, if made in accordance with the Pharmacopoeia, may be kept almost indefinitely without precipitating, its chief enemy being a very low temperature, when the sugar will crystallize. Wine of ipecacuanha likewise separates a sediment which does not oc- cur in syrup of ipecac, which is only of half the strength of the 118 ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. former, but made with a different and more spirituous menstruum. But a more striking illustration of the preservative power of su- gar may be produced by the following experiment. Let us prepare Liquor Ferri Iodidi in the manner prescribed by the Pharmacopoeia ; for another quantity we omit the sugar and wash the filter with 95 per ct. alcohol instead of with water, until the required measure is obtained ; thus we procure a solu- tion of iodide of iron in alcohol of 72 per ct. of the strength of the liquor of the Pharmacopoeia. We put equal measures of the two solutions in two vials of the same size and shape, cover their unstoppered mouths with gauze so as to prevent the falling in of dust, and set them aside in a place where the direct sunlight cannot reach them. Thus placed in as nearly as possible alike conditions, the progress of oxidation may be easily watched and compared without disturbing the vials and mixing the different strata. It will be observed, that in less than two hours the lib- eration of iodine has fairly set in, in the alcoholic solution, while the saccharine liquid apparently shows no signs of decomposition yet ; in this the coloration by the liberated iodine very slowly proceeds downwards, the former has in 12 hours precipitated some sesquioxide of iron and in a few days has assumed a uni- formly deep iodine color. But now let us proceed in the opposite direction. We have two similar vials, one filled with a saccharine, the other with an alco- holic solution of iodide of iron of the officinal strength, both how- ever in such a state of decomposition that the shade of their col- oration is alike, so that it may be fairly assumed the oxidation has proceeded equally far with both solutions. Let them be ex- posed to the direct sunlight under similar conditions, and in such a manner that both may be easily examined. The saccharine so- lution, which was slowest to assume the coloration, rapidly ap- proaches to colorlessness, while it takes a much longer time for the spirituous liquid. Both these experiments tend to show that sugar is a better pre- servative and a better deoxidizing agent than alcohol ; and once come to this conclusion, we must acknowledge it as desirable to preserve our fluid extracts as much as possible by means of su- gar. Our aim then will be to counteract the proneness to fer- mentation, which in many cases we can easily achieve by the ne- Off THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. 119 cessarj quantity of sugar which of itself protects sufficiently the vegetable matter against oxidation in general, that cannot be avoided by the use of alcohol, this antiseptic itself having a ten- dency to undergo acetic fermentation through the influence of sundry vegetable substances. One great objection, and I think, a more serious one than fermentability, is the different degree of solubility of sugar in water at a temperature of such variation as is experienced in our climate during the summer and winter sea- son when it verges almost on impossibility to maintain constant- ly in a given space a temperature of about 60°F., which has been found most salutary for syrups. Fluid extracts, of course, ought to be made to withstand these changes as far as they are felt in- side the house, in the cellar, and in the dispensing room. A saccharine fluid extract, containing in a pint 12, never over 14 ounces Troy of the best sugar, is not apt to crystallize in moder- ately cold weather, and as it is charged with a considerable amount of vegetable matter, it will then generally be nearly of the density of our ordinary syrups containing 15 oz. Troy of su- gar in one pint. The exact quantity of sugar necessary for preser- vation, and particularly to resist fermentation, varies in different cases, those plants yielding a large amount of soluble matter re- quiring less sugar than those yielding but little. I differ from M. Thayer's opinion, that because containing more vegetable matter — natural ferment as he calls it — saccharine fluid extracts are more liable to undergo change, fermentation ; on the contrary, the nearer the density of organic matter approaches solidity and dryness, the less is its proneness to such a change, and infusions of a marked difference in their strength, made alike and placed under the same influences, will show the weaker to change before the stronger, but more especially will this be the case when the weaker infusion has been concentrated by evaporation and fil- tered. Thus far I have spoken of the preference of sugar over alco- iiol from a chemical point of view, and the question remains now to be reviewed in a pharmaceutical light, concerning appearance and taste. With some well known exceptions, a liquid medicine is the m ore pleasing to the eye, the more transparent and clear it is. Those rendered turbid by some partially soluble substance, are 120 ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. generally unsightly and in some cases even repulsive. When- ever it is in our power, we owe it to the suffering to remedy this defect by making the medicine as transparent as possible. Al- coholic tinctures when freshly prepared, are unexceptionable as far as their appearance is concerned, but above I have shown that they are subject to changes and form precipitates. This is admitted by M. Thayer, but he thinks this tendency is less in fluid extracts than in tinctures, doubtless so on account of their specific gravity being higher. I have had little experience with alcoholic fluid extracts, a few instances excepted ; but if I am to judge from them and the conclusions of the above stated well established facts, it appears to me that they all must soon pre- cipitate, and though the precipitate be light and more pulveru- lent, and may by agitation be easily mixed with the extract, still this does not improve their appearance, but certainly ren- ders them more or less unsightly. In making fluid extracts, the obtained tincture or infusion du- ring the process of evaporation is heated for such a length of time, that by contact with air a partial change is unavoidable ; the darker color of the liquid and sometimes the portions of in- soluble matter floating therein are evidences thereof. The ad- dition of sugarin such cases, may, by its own solvent powers, dis- solve some, or keep that extractive matter suspended for a time ; but if suspended only, it is sure to separate and thus detract from the nicety of the preparation. This result may be avoided by straining the fluid extract before the addition of the sugar through close flannel, or better still by filtering it quickly through good filtering paper, while yet hot, and washing the filter subsequently with hot water to make up for the loss suffered by evaporation. The separation of apotheme from the fluid extracts ought to be a necessity, as it contributes nothing at all to the medicinal pro- perties of the preparation, and as it is a substance in the process of alteration, it most likely interferes with the stability of the fluid extract. Alcohol is a better solvent for this substance, which consequently enters greally into the extracts preserved by alcohol, without adding to their stability. Besides apotheme, during evaporation other bodies may be separated, particularly chlorophyll and resin ; the first of the two W7e had better get rid of in all our preparations, with the latter, ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. 121 however, it may be different. If the separated resins are of any medicinal value, we must, to preserve them, dissolve them if pos- sible. When all medicinal virtue resides in resinous matter, it may be most practicable to have them dissolved in alcohol ; but it is often the case that only small quantities of resin are pres- ent, which nevertheless will not be kept in solution by the sugar. To retain it we have various ways, one of which is recognized by our national Pharmacopoeia in the case of fluid extract of senna and spigelia. I refer to the employment of an alkali or its car- bonate, to effect the solution, which has also been proposed by Professor Procter for fluid extract of jalap, and may be service- able in other instances. Another way is the partial employment of alcohol as a solvent, as a precedent to which I refer to E. Parrish's suggestion for fluid extract of cinchona (Parrish's Practical Pharmacy, p. 171.) If the sugar is dissolved by a very moderate heat, and the evapo- ration to the proper measure conducted at the same temperature, a sufficient quantity of alcohol will remain behind to keep the cincho-tannic salts in solution. The fluid extract thus made is syrupy, perfectly transparent, of a deep Malaga wine color, and, in the course of 18 months, being kept in a partially filled bottle frequently opened, has not precipitated one-fourth the quantity of coloring and other matter, as an equal volume of the tincture of cinchona, made with the same calisaya bark, and being only three-eighths the strength of the fluid extract. I believe this to be a speaking example in favor of the employment of sugar. As, however, by manipulating differently or at a different degree of heat, the amount of alcohol must necessarily vary, ib ^night perhaps be preferable to have a certain quantity added to the completed extract, say about 2 oz. for the pint. Since then I have prepared various extracts in a similar manner, such as fluid extract of cimicifuga, serpentaria, buchu, &c; in the latter in- stance, however, I have been unable to separate entirely the chlorophyll ; the quality of such extracts I believe to be unex- ceptionable. Another consideration, not to be disregarded in making fluid extracts, is their taste, and to make this as agreeable as possible, is a duty which we owe to the sick. This end is gained by sugar, which more readily masks a bitter and disagreeable taste 122 ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. than alcohol, and though by age preparations made with the latter menstruum are improving in taste, become mellow, this is not a, quality belonging exclusively to alcohol. Although we observe it less, it is also the case with saccharine fluids ; to prove which I may refer to syrup of rhubarb, but more particularly to the finer fruit syrups, such as raspberry, mulberry, strawberry and the like. Where the taste is very disagreeable, or the odor an un- pleasant one, we can resort to volatile oils, which serve to correct both odor and taste, and at the same time act as antiseptics similar to alcohol. If the list of our officinal fluid extracts should be increased at the next revision of the Pharmacopoeia, it will doubtless include a number of herbs which have a peculiar odor of their own, residing in a peculiar volatile oil, to gain which by a process as simple as possible must be our aim, so as to be able to incorporate it afterwards with the finished extract. I have hardly anything to say in opposition to the argument that the small quantity of alcohol taken with spirituous fluid extracts can not have any stimulating effects. When the extract is preserved by diluted alcohol, and the dose does not exceed a teaspoonful, I am in general inclined to the same view ; but it is quite different with fluid extracts preserved by 85 or 95 per ct. alcohol, and when the ordinary dose is larger. With a dose of such fluid extracts, which, besides being preserved by sugar, con- tains some alcohol, for the complete solution of resinous and other matter not entirely soluble in syrup alone, such a small quantity of spirit is given that it could be even less objectiona- ble than the quantity in a dose of fluid extracts preserved by alcohol or diluted alcohol alone. One argument in opposition to sugar as the preservative agent for fluid extracts remains to be met ; it is based on the great difference of the climate of the various sections of the United States, the Northern States usually having severe winters, while the South never experiences such a lew state of the thermometer. What is made to keep in a northern latitude, it is argued, may be unstable in the south, prone to change and fermentation. I confess that this ground appears to me to be more untenable than the rest, and the more so as in pharmaceutical practice we have other examples of the same character. I have reference to the consistency of ointments, which even in the North are ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. 123 often made with an additional proportion of wax, spermaceti or suet, if intended for use during the summer season ; while in the South, pharmaceutists are compelled to employ the whole year round a harder preparation as the basis of most ointments and some cerates, than is commonly needed in the North during the corresponding season ; and as yet I have heard of nobody who would be willing to find fault with such a procedure, even though the formula laid down in our national Pharmacopoeia should not be strictly followed. Substances merely employed as a menstruum without adding to the medicinal qualities of the pre- paration, may be varied in proportion, so as to impart to the latter that finish which is in accordance with the artistical de- mands of our profession, I have found that it matters little to the physician whether the base of some ointments be simple cerate, as is often necessary to employ in the South, or simple ointment, which in the North may be the proper menstruum for the same preparation ; all that he requires, is the requisite soft- ness or solidity without the addition of some substance impart- ing additional or injurious properties. The same may be said of fluid extracts. If those which keep well in the North with 12 ounces of sugar in the pint, have a tendency to ferment in the South, no physician could reasonably object to the addition of another ounce or two for the same measure. If of the proper density, and without unnecessary exposure to the intense heat and light of the sun, I am confident they may be made to keep by means of sugar as well in the South as in the North, while to those requiring an addition of alcohol for the complete solution of some ingredients, no further complement of the same will be needed, so that the medicinal qualities of the fluid extract can be kept unaltered in every respect. But to succeed in this, I hold that our pharmaceutical brethren in the South must not rely on experiments made with fluid extracts prepared in the North, but make them for their own use, and I have no doubt as a compensation for the required trouble they will derive high pleasure from the study of the peculiarity of the various pro- cesses for the accomplishment of success. Before conclusion I have to make a remark with regard to a few fluid preparations, which under peculiar circumstances are given to moulding. In full bottles this will be rarely the case, 124 ON THE PRESERVATION OF FLUID EXTRACTS. but when they are opened occasionally and the quantity of atmosphere within is increased and renewed, mould may be produced. To guard against it, or where it has commenced, to check it, I have successfully used sulphuric ether, which in a former paper I have recommended for the destruction of in- sects. But it is a necessity to keep the ether from mixing with the medicinal liquid, and this may be accomplished by the simple contrivance of fastening or glueing a small piece of sponge to the lower end of the stopper, and dropping a few drops of ether upon it, so that the atmosphere inside the bottles may become charged with its vapors. I have tried it with pre- parations of stillingia and krameria and found it successful, Recapitulating the points treated on, I have endeavored to prove the superiority of sugar over alcohol as the preservative agent for fluid extracts for the following reasons : 1. Sugar is a better deoxidizing agent and a better preventive of oxidation than alcohol ; 2. If used in sufficient quantity, it will be a sufficient guard against fermentation ; 3. It does not, like alcohol, add stimulating properties to large doses of fluid extracts ; 4. It will by the aid of a very small proportion of alcohol re- tain in solution principles, which, after some time, are precipita- ted from diluted and stronger alcohol alone ; 5. It masks the taste of bitter and nauseous articles better than alcohol ; 6. By the addition of a slight quantity of alcohol, when neces- sary, the tendency to fermentation and moulding will be effec- tually counteracted ; 7. The same effect will be produced by the volatile oils which may be obtained from the plants, to be made into fluid ex- tracts, or other oils may be added, that will also serve to improve the taste. Philadelphia, Feb. 1859. [The impartial and philosophical manner in which Mr. Maisch has dis- cussed the important subject of which he treats, particularly important at the present juncture as regrrds the Revision of the Pharmacopoeia, should gain for his paper the earnest attention of pharmaceutists, and call forth the results of their experience. — Editor Am. Pharm. Jour.] REMARKS ON PROPYLAMINE > * r* ** 4 ^ OCT P*VQ^ 1,5 REMARKS ON PROPYLAMIN. By William Procter, Jr. With the progress of discovery since the year 1817, when Sertuerner recognized the alkalinity of morphia, the therapeu- tist has been more and more convinced that the organic alkalies have been specially endowed with more well defined and concen- trated medicinal power than any other group of organic bodies. These remarkable substances, rendered stable by natural union with acids occurring with them, seem destined in the economy of nature to minister to disease, as in most instances they do not appear to possess any other uses. Since the discovery by Wurtz and others of the important fact, that organic al- kalies may be produced artificially in the laboratory, it does not appear that much attention has been directed to the therapeutic power of these derivative bodies ; yet in some few instances it has been accorded, and there can hardly be a doubt that a rich harvest awaits the researches of experiment in this direction by the ^enlightened physician. The number of these alkalies has been largely increased by Hoffman, and Anderson. Several of these, strictly artificial at first, so far as known, have since been discovered in nature, and among them propylamin the subject of this notice. Having been several times applied to for propylamin by phy- sicians, and this alkaloid not being procurable in commerce, it has been thought advisable to publish a formula for its prepara- tion, and give a notice of its characters more in detail than is found in authorities generally accessible. The origin of the demand for propylamin appears to have arisen from its asserted power in cases of rheumatism, and its variations, by Dr, Awen- arius of St. Petersburg, the following notice of whose researches is translated from Bouchardat's Repertoire de JPharmacie, Dec, 1858 : — " Propylamin, as obtained from the pickle of herrings, codliver oil, ergot, human urine, etc., appears, according to the author, to possess the power of a true specific for the various affections of rheumatic origin. The diagnoses of these diseases being often very obscure, one can succeed (says M. Awenarius) by the use of propylamin in bringing to light in a few days the 126 REMARKS ON PROPYLAMINE true nature of the malady. The author has treated, by means of this remedy, 250 patients in the hospital of Kaulinkin at St. Petersburg, between March 1854, and June 1856 ; and besides, it has been employed in outside practice in a considerable number of acute and chronic cases of rheumatism. In acute cases, the pain and fever always disappear the next day. The remedy was prescribed in the following manner, viz. R. Propylamin . . . gtt. xxv. Distilled water, , . . f-3vj. Mix. and when necessary, add Oleo saccharum of peppermint ^ij. Dose. A tablespoonful every two hours. It is necessary to carefully ascertain if the medicine is fresh and pure." Propylamin was discovered by Werthiem in 1850, and may be obtained from various sources. Artificially from narcotina, co- deia, bone oil, and by the action of ammonia on iodized propy- lene, and naturally, combined with an acid, in herring pickle, the flowers of the white thorn (Crsetagus oxycantha), those of the service berry (Sorbus aucuparia),Chenopodium vulvaria, &c, It is most conveniently prepared from herring pickle or ergot, by distillation with potash. Propylamin is a colorless, trans- parent liquid, with a strong pungent odor that reminds one of ammonia. As made from some sources it has a fishy odor, whilst from others this character is wanting, and as it is metameric with both trimethyiamin and methyl-ethylamin, it is possible that' the latter may be mistaken for propylamin. (G-melin.) Propylamin is soluble in water, has a strong alkaline reaction, forms erystallizable salts, and like ammonia, when a rod dipped in muriatic acid is presented to it, dense vapors of the hydro- chlorate become visible by their union. Its composition is C6H9N. which is that of ammonia with an equivalent of propyl. Most of the salts of propylamin are soluble in water and alcohol but the sulphate is insoluble in the latter menstruum (Winckler). The hydrochlorate is soluble in alcohol, and crystallizes in large tables as obtained from Chenopodium vulvaria. All the salts are decomposed with a herring pickle odor by the mixture of potash, and when heated in solution the same fishy odor is perceptible. NOTE ON CITRATE OF IRON AND STRYCHNIA. 127 Propylamin is prepared by taking any convenient quantity of herring pickle, obtained from the dealers in salt fish ; this is put in a retort or tight still with sufficient potash to render the liquid strongly alkaline, and the liquid heated. A well refrigerated receiver, containing some distilled water, being attached, heat is applied as long as the distillate has the odor of herrings. This is then saturated with hydrochloric acid, evaporated care- fully to dryness, and the dry crystalline mass exhausted with absolute alcohol, which dissolves the propylamin salt and leaves the muriate of ammonia. From the former, the pure propylamin may be obtained in solution by means of hydrate of lime using strong precautions to refrigerate and condense the vapors which are actively disengaged almost without heating. When made from ergot, Winckler recommends that a solution of the extract of ergot, known as ergotine, be distilled with solution of potassa, using the precaution to have some water acidulated with muriatic acid in the receiver which should be well refrigerated. For medi- cal purposes it will be better to employ herring pickle, as the source of propylamin. NOTE ON CITRATE OF IRON AND STRYCHNIA. Pittsburgh, February 4, 1859. Prop. Procter : — Dear Sir, — Soliciting, in the last number of your Journal, the opinion of the medical fraternity, in regard to the new com. bination of Citrate of Iron and Strychnia, as to what propor- tion in a therapeutical and medical point would be most desira- ble, permit me to state, that I have prepared it for some time past, by the request of several of our physicians, in the propor- tion of Strychnise cryst. 1 part, Ferri Citrat. 100 " As such, it seems to answer better than the former suggested preparation. The adoption of one uniform formula in all medical com- pounds, and especially with such powerful agents, is devoutly to 128 ON THE SOLUBILITY OP SESQUIOXIDE OF CHROMIUM. be wished for, in order to avoid serious mistakes and discre- pancies, and (above all) to abolish an unprofessional exclusive- ness, which is, at the expense of a better mutual feeling even in advanced pharmaceutical bodies still fostered. Hoping that the communication may assist in agreeing upon a definite formula, I am jours respectfully, Jos. Abel. ON THE SOLUBILITY OF THE SESQUIOXIDE OF CHROMIUM. I By Charles T. Carney. Editor of Journal of Pharmacy: Bear Sir, — Allow me to trespass upon your space so far as to state a curious fact in relation to the chrome oxide. In September 1857, I was led to investigate the Sesquioxide of Chromium, with a view of decomposing the same without injury to any organic matters which might be present with it. The means usually employed for effecting the decomposition, by boiling sulphuric acid, &c, were of course unavailable, and I was much interested in observing a peculiar reaction which was new to me ; and I do not know that it has been before observed. I found that when the ignited sesquioxide was exposed to the action of the galvanic battery, in presence of a dilute solution of caustic alkali, it was decomposed, the chromate of alkali formed in solution. Thinking it possible that a combination might occur with the caustic alkali and some soluble portion of the chrome oxide, I next subjected some freshly prepared and ignited sesquioxide to the action of caustic alkali for twelve hours ; then, after being thoroughly washed and dried, submitted it to the action of the battery. The result was the same, and from the solution of chromate of alkali obtained, I formed the chromic salts of lead and silver. Very truly yours, Charles T. Carney. Boston, Feb. 1859. IRON REDUCED BY CARBON. 129 ON IRON REDUCED BY CARBON. By M. A. Henry. This new preparation, proposed by M. A. Henry, pharma- cien at Giromans (Upper Rhine), is an intimate mixture of me- tallic iron and carbon, obtained by the calcination of an organic salt of iron, the pyrolignite of iron. This salt taken in its li- quid state is evaporated to dryness over a gentle fire, and the residue is calcined at a dull red heat. The product is a light> porous, impalpable, nonpyrophoric carbon, of which the compo- sition is uniform where the operation has been properly conduct- ed. The great tenuity and slight density of this carboferric powder renders easy its suspension in liquids, to the bottom of which it does not precipitate like iron reduced by hydrogen. The presence of a notable quantity of charcoal has the advantage of rendering the product more spongy, more absorbent, of facilita- ting thus the contact of the ferruginious particles with the li- quids of the stomach, and of preventing by a special action, anal- ogous to that of the charcoal of Belloc, the eructations of the stomach produced by preparations of iron. The clinical trials made by Dr. Benoit Cantonal, physician at Giromans, goes to confirm the efficacy of this new product, which M. Henry had rationally foreseen from its chemical composition. The following are the conclusions to which this operator has been led. Iron reduced by carbon^ in the dose of 1J to 2 grains three times a day, has all the efficacy of the best preparations of iron. Perfectly suspended it has never caused constipation nor dyspep- tic exacerbations which so often follow the. use of the soluble preparations of iron, and it possesses, nevertheless, an activity much greater than the insoluble preparations, which are fre- quently resorted to at first. The mean duration of 43 cases of chlorosis was two days and the mean quantity of the medicine administered was 11 grammes 168 grains. The efficacy of this product, its easy preparation, and moderate price, recommends it to practitioners, especially in medicines for the poor Jour, de Pharm. Dec. 1858, from Gaz. Med. de Strasbourg. 9 130 THE ODOROU PRINCIPLE OF VANILLA. ON VANILLIN THE ODOROUS PRINCIPLE OF VANILLA: By M. Gobley. The odorous properties of vanilla, and the useful medicinal action which it exercises on the organism as an excitant tonic, gives to the chemical bodies to which it owes these advantages a peculiar interest. Vanilla is the fruit of a climbing and branching plant which grows in the maritime countries of Mexico, Colombia and Guai- ana. The plant belongs to the family Orchidese and was named by Linnaeus Epidendrum Vanilla, and by Swartz under that of Vanilla aromatica. The chemical researches which have been made in vanilla are already old, by Bucholz and Vogel. The former found in va- nilla a fatty oil with disagreeable odor ; a soft resin, which when heated smelled weakly of vanilla ; a slightly bitter extrac- tive, resembling tannin ; sugar ; starchy matter and benzoic acid. In these researches the odorous principle has been entirely neglected. What is its nature ? to what class of chemical bodies does it belong ? Is it constituted of an essential oil, or by a substance of a different nature ? And in either case, what are the composition and properties of the substance ? These are questions the author proposed to resolve. Vanilla, properly divided, was exhausted with alcohol of 85°, evaporated to an extract, this softened with water and agitated in a flask with ether, as long as it cedes any color to the ether. The ethereal liquid is evaporated and treated with boiling water, which dissolves the aromatic principle and gives it in the form of crystals by evaporation in an impure state, which requires treatment with animal charcoal and recrystallization to get it pure. Thus obtained in a state of purity, this substance is color- leas, in the form of long four-sided needles, terminated with two faces. It presents a strong aromatic odor of vanilla, and a hot, biting taste. Its crystals are hard and crack under the teeth, and are neutral to litmus. When heated, it fuses at 195° F., and volatilizes at 302° F. in little needle-shaped crystals of a shining whiteness, and possessing a sweet odor of vanilla. ACTION OF BICHROMATE OF POTASSA IN DYEING. 131 It is difficultly soluble in cold water ; boiling water dissolves it in a large quantity, and deposits it on cooling. It is very soluble in alcohol, ether and the fixed and volatile oils; concen- trated sulphuric acid dissolves it and is colored yellow. It dissolves without alteration in diluted acids. Liquor potassse also readily dissolves it and yields it unaltered on adding an acid. It does not decompose the alkaline carbonates cold or hot. Submitted to analysis, it affords a per centage of carbon 75*22; hydrogen 3*98; oxygen 20*20, which lead to the formula C20 H6 O4. The properties of this substance are analogous to those of coumarin of Tonka bean, which the author, some years since, found in the leaves of Anagroecum Fragrans, of the Isle of Mauritius ; but their identity is not complete, differing in odor, point of fusion and composition. As it appears to be a distinct proximate principle, the author suggests for it the name vanillin. It is well know that vanilla, enclosed in cases, is often found covered with crystals, known in France under the name " givre" or frost. Bucholz and Vogel considered these crystals to be benzoic acid. The author considers them identical with vanillin as it presents the same crystalline form, fusing point and solu- bility in water, alcohol and ether. The givre dissolved in alco- hol has a slight action on litmus paper, but Soubeiran, who noticed this, did not hesitate to deny its acid character. The pre-existence of vanillin demonstrates that the crystal- line substance, which appears on its surface, is not the product of oxidation of an essential oil, as has been supposed, but is vanillin, which is thus transferred to the surface, under favora- ble circumstances for the evaporation of the juices of the bean. — Journ. de Pharm. et de Ohimie, Janv., 1859. ON THE ACTION OF BICHROMATE OF POTASSA IN DYEING. By John S. Blockey and Herbert Sugden. It is well known, that bichromate of potassa is largely used in dyeing certain colors with logwood, the cloth or yarn being boiled in a solution of this salt for a period varying from 132 ACTION OF BICHROMATE OF POTASSA IN DYEING. twenty minutes to half an hour, previous to its being worked in the dye-bath. It is generally believed, that the action of this substance is of an oxidizing nature ; to test the accuracy of this opinion we had recourse to the following experiments : — 1st. A piece of cloth was boiled for twenty minutes in a di- lute solution of permanganate of potash — the solution became green, proving the reduction of the permanganate. The cloth was then well washed, and dyed with logwood and chloride of tin (tin spirits) in the usual manner — a color resulted, by no means equal in brilliancy, body or tint to that obtained by using bichromate of potash. 2nd. A fresh piece of cloth was immersed in a cold solution of permanganate, allowing it to stand until the solution became green ; but with no better results than in the last experiment. 3d. The same experiment as the last substituting a cold so- lution of ferrate of potash for the permanganate, with similar results. 4th. The cloth was boiled in a solution of pure chromic acid, previous to being subjected to the dye-bath. The color obtained in this experiment more resembled a bronze than the beautiful blue produced by bichromate of potash. These experiments show that the cloth does not require to be oxidized to prepare it for taking on the dye ; indeed, even without the direct evidence of experiment, it seems almost impossible to reconcile the idea of oxidation with bichrome ; for, in dyeing with logwood on the large scale, it is well known that the cloth retains the yellow color of that salt and not of the green sesqui-oxide of chro- mium, which it would do, if the bichromate became reduced by the organic tissue. A piece of cloth was next boiled in a solution of bichromate of potash, and well scoured, and rinsed, the cloth retaining a slight yellow color, after which it was burnt, and the ashes sub- jected to chemical tests for the presence of oxide of chromium ; formed by the reduction of the chromate by the organic matter at a high temperature. The existence of this compound in the ashes, together with the fact of the cloth being yellow and not green after mordanting with bichrome and scouring, gave abun- dant proof of the fact that the bichrome itself enters the cloth and remains firmly fixed in the fibre, even after repeated wash- INVESTIGATION OP STRYCHNIA. 133 ings ; and showing that it is the entire salt itself, and not the acid of it, which is the acting agent. The question, however, arises, whether the bichromate of potash in the fibre is not acted upon by the acid of the tin spirits in the dye-bath, producing an oxidizing action at the moment when most requisite. This, however, we have found not to be the case by neglecting the mordanting with bichromate of potash, and placing some chro- mic acid in the dye-bath with the logwood and tin spirits ; when, if oxidation be requisite, we expected to have a color equal to that obtained when bichrome is employed ; but in this we were disappointed, for the wool could not properly be said to take on any color at all. We are therefore of opinion, that the bichro*- mate forms a definite compound with the hematoxylin of the logwood, in the fibre of the cloth; the more so, as by adding a solution of bichromate of potash to a decoction of logwood, on being boiled, the liquid becomes of an intense black color. It is, therefore, probably owing to a combination of this black matter and the dye from logwood, united to oxide of tin, that the tint of the well-known rich purple logwood blue is due.-— London Chemist, Sept, 1858. INVESTIGATION OF STRYCHNINE. By P. SCHUTZENBERGER. When a mixture of sulphate of strychnine and nitrite of potash dissolved in water is boiled, a brisk effervescence due to the liberation of nitrogen gas is observed. After the reaction the yellowish liquid treated with ammonia furnishes a light yel- low, flocculent precipitate. The washed precipitate is dissolved in boiling alcohol. On cooling, the liquid deposits transparent, well-defined crystals of considerable size and of a fine orange-yellow color ; they appear to be right prisms with a rectangular base, and with truncations at the solid angles. The supernatant alcohol, when concentrated, furnishes a fresh deposit of separate prisms of a darker orange- red color. These two bodies form two new alkaloids, and represent two degrees of oxidation of strychnine. 134 INVESTIGATION OF STRYCHNIA. The red base is more oxidized than the orange one. They are both insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol (the red one more than the other), and insoluble in ether. They contain no water of crystallization, are decomposed at about 572° F., fuse on a plate of platinum, and burn with a brilliant flame. Their taste is bitter, but less so than that of strychnine. The orange base dried at 482° F., loses nothing at a higher temperature, and gave on analysis, — C 62-5 H 7-06 It also gave 7-05 per cent, of nitrogen, leading to the formula C42H2SN2012 = C42H22]Sf204_|_6HO_1_02> v, , ; v Strychnine. Theory, — C 62-37 H 6-93 N 6.93 The c1 ioroplatinate gave 16-10 per cent, of platinum ; the for- mula Ct2H28N2G12Cl HCPPt requires 16-2 per cent. This base may be called oxy strychnine. The red base gave — Calculated. C . . 59-76 60-00 H . . 6-85 6-6 N 6-52 6-6 Leading to the formula C42I128N20i4== C42H22N204 x 6HO x O4. The chloroplatinate gave 15-65 per cent, of platinum ; cal- culated 15-8 per cent. This alkaloid contains 2 equivalents of oxygen more than the preceding, and may be named binoxy- strychnine. From numerous analyses of strychnine, the author concludes that this body is not constant in its composition. His analyses, and those of Regnault made with octahedric strychnine, agree with the formula C40H22N2O4. The most common strychnine, from numerous analyses, has the formula adopted, namely, — C42H22N204. ON A NEW DENSIMETER. 135 Lastly, Gerhardt has published several analyses of chloro- platinate of strychnine, in which the carbon is 1 per cent, too high and the nitrogen 0-5 per cent, too low for the admitted formula, but which agree perfectly with C44H22N2Q4# This is rendered more probable by the fact of the same thing taking place with other bases. — Chem. Cfaz., Oct. 15, 1858, from Oomptes Mendus, July 12, 1858. MODE OF PREPARING LIQUIDS OF GIVEN SPECIFIC GRAVITY WITHOUT CALCULATION OR PREVIOUS TRIALS. Densimeter by M. Spacowsky. In the laboratory and in the arts, we are often required to prepare a definite mixture of two liquids, such as sulphuric acid and water, alcohol and water, &c, one of two modes is generally employed. 1st, Given the quantity and specific gravity of one of the liquids, the quantity of the other liquid is calculated. This mode is not always practicable, requires time, and, for alco- holic liquids especially, the concentration or mixture gives rise to difficulties frequently insurmountable ; or secondly, areome- ters are floated in the liquors ; but this means, which is very practicable and very much used, presents great difficulties in manufacture, owing to the various temperatures of the mixtures. A densimeter of a new form constructed by M. Spacowsky, of St. Petersburg, allows the preparation of a liquid mixture with great ease and precision, and without a thermometer. The apparatus consists of a vessel or areometer of platina. This areometer is closed above by a very thin partition or me- tallic plate, such as that employed in the arenoid barometers, and yielding to the slightest pressure. At its lower end the areo- meter is terminated by a tube furnished with a stop-cock. It is suspended by a piatina wire from one arm of a delicate balance, and equilibriated by a weight suspended also by a platina wire from the other arm. The equilibrium thus established will evi- dently be destroyed if the areometer and the counter-balancing weight be plunged in a liquid of the same specific gravity ag that which it contains ; and as the thin partition allows the 136 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. liquid contained to expand in accordance with the temperature to which it may be subjected, a very simple calculation will show that the re-establishment of the equilibrium is independent of the temperature. As, moreover, the metal of which the instru- ment is made, is very thin and a good conductor of heat, the equilibrium of temperature will soon be established between the interior and exterior liquid. Now, to reproduce in any quantity, a liquid of given specific gravity ; fill the areometer with the given liquid, and plunge it and the equilibriating weight into the heavier of the liquids to be mixed, and add the other until the equilibrium is restored. The liquids will be rigorously of the same specific gravity. — Journ. Frank. Inst, from Academic des Science de Paris, June 7, 1858. ON THE INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA; Br F. KUHLMANN; The author has already called attention to the utility of sul- phate of baryta in painting, in distemper and silicious painting, especially as the substitution of this white compound for white lead and zinc white is not only supported by considerations of economy, inalterability, and durability, but also by considerations of hygiene. This double advantage has led the author to perse- vere in the endeavor to produce sulphate of baryta at a cheap rate on a large scale, and the present paper contains the first portion of his results. To obtain artificial sulphate of baryta at a moderate price, the first point was to reduce the price of the acids which consti- tute the principal expense of its manufacture. With this view the author has endeavoured to condense the acid vapors more completely, as a portion of them is lost in the soda manufac- tories to the great prejudice of the manufacturers, the public health, and vegetation. By placing native carbonate of baryta (Witherite) in contact with the vapors escaping from the furnaces for the decomposi- tion of common salt, or from our leaden chambers, after their condensation has been effected under ordinary conditions, the INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. 137 author has succeeded in retaining a great portion of the uncon- densed vapours. The baryta dissolved by these acids is conver- ted into sulphate by an addition of sulphuric acid, and the muri- atic or nitric acids thus condensed and isolated, are returned into the condensing apparatus of which they increase the profits. There is a much greater loss of muriatic acid than that caused by the imperfection of condensing apparatus, namely that which necessarily takes place in the manufacture of chlorine or of chloride of lime which constitutes the principal use of muriatic acid. In this manufacture more than half the muriatic acid em- ployed is lost in the form of chloride of manganese. In prac- tice, from the impurity of the oxide of manganese, this loss rises to two-thirds, and becomes of great importance. The author calculates the amount of loss in France alone at two millions of francs (<£80,000). Many attempts have been made to turn the residues of the manufacture of Chlorine to some account ; the chloride of manganese has been applied to the purification of gas, to the production of ammoniacal salts, to the purpose of disin- fection in some systems of sewerage ; and lastly, some attempts have lately been made, in the great manufactory of Mr. Tennant near Glasgow, to regenerate the oxide of manganese, and render it capable of again producing chlorine, but all these applications are insignificant compared with the great quantity of residue produced. The liquid residues of the manufacture of chlorine have also generally formed serious embarrassments in chemical factories, and have even been productive of danger to the public health, whether they were allowed to flow into streams of water, or caused to penetrate into the soil by means of absorbing wells. After the condensation of the acids lost in the atmosphere, the author turned his attention to the utilization of those con- tained in the liquid residues ; and he has succeeded in effecting this completely, by availing himself of a reaction analogous to that which permitted Leblanc to endow France with the manu- facture of artificial soda. In Leblanc's process a mixture of suitable proportions of sulphate of soda, chalk, and charcoal, is converted under the influence of a high temperature into insolu- ble oxysulphuret of calcium and carbonate of soda, which is ea- sily isolated in consequence of its solubility. 138 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. In the author's process a mixture of suitable proportions of native sulphate of baryta, chloride of manganese and charcoal, is converted in the same way into insoluble sulphuret of manganese and chloride of barium, which is easily separated by lixiviation. The reaction may be expressed by the following formula : — BaO, S03+MnCl+4O=BaCl+MnS+4C0. An analogous reaction may likewise be established for the chloride of iron which always accompanies the chloride of man- ganese. The charcoal always acts as a deoxidizing agent, and becomes converted into oxide of carbon. After some trials to ascertain a good proportion, the author arrived at a result which exceeded his hopes, allowing the native sulphate to be converted into chloride of barium, without a greater loss than 3 or 4 per cent, of the sulphate employed. The mode of operation is as follows : — The transformation above mentioned is effected in large reverberatory furnaces of the same construction as the soda-furnaces, or, what is better, the furnaces for the decomposition of common salt, in which the bed is divided into two compartments by a low ridge. When these furnaces have been heated for some time, a finely powder- ed mixture of native sulphate of baryta and coke is introduced into the compartment furthest from the fire ; over this is poured the crude residue of the manufacture of chlorine, after its excess of acid has been saturated with a little chalk or native carbonate of baryta. The action of the heat upon this mass thickens it by degrees. When brought to the condition of a firm paste, it is puslu d by means of suitable iron instruments, over the separa- ting ridge, into the compartment nearest to the fire. Here the mass swells up, and soon emits small flames of oxide of carbon, like those which are observed at a certain period in the soda fur- naces, but which derive a slight greenish color from the baryta. After an hour of calcination at a red heat, a semifluid paste of rather more consistency than crude soda, is turned out ; on cool- ing, this furnishes a black mass, formed of chloride of barium a little hyposulphite of baryta, and sulphurets of manganese and iron. After exposure to the air for a few days this crude chloride of barium becomes disaggregated ; the hyposulphite contained in it passes to the state of sulphate. The lixiviation is then effected by the aid of heat in the apparatus usually employed in the lix- iviation of soda. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. 139 The product of this lixiviation consists of a perfectly clear so- lution of nearly pure chloride of barium. If there be a slight ex- cess of sulphuret of barium, giving it a yellowish color, this is re- moved by the addition, until complete decolorization, of a solu- tion of chloride of manganese, the residue of the manufacture of chlorine, from which all the chloride of iron has been separated by a previous digestion with native carbonate of baryta. If, on the contrary, there is a slight excess of the salt of manganese, ic is got rid of by a little sulphuret of barium. A circumstance of some interest, especially in a scientific point of view, is that in clearing out a furnace, the author found that in the part of this furnace where the sulphate of baryta was near- est to the grate, and where at the same time it was in contact with the brick, there was an abundant deposit of a green and blue matter, containing no soda, manganese or cobalt, and which appeared to be an ultramarine in which baryta replaced the soda. The author calls attention to the fact, that before the Societe d* Encouragement proposed a prize for the discovery of a means of manufacturing artificial ultramine, M. Tassart had indicated the production, in a soda furnace, of a blue matter which M. Vau- quelin recognized as ultramine, and that soon after this first ob- servation he noticed the production of the same artificial ultra- marine, under circumstances which rendered the explanation of the phenomena of its formation less difficult, in a portion of the furnaces for the calcination of sulphate of soda, where this sul- phate was in contact with the bricks at a high temperature. The first observation of the existence of a barytic ultramarine, under analogous circumstances, would furnish another proof that the germ of a discovery may lie in an attentive examination of some fragments of a furnace in course of demolition. Manufacture of various acids. In his previous memoir the author indicated the uses to which he has put the chloride of barium which constitutes the base of his operations. He stated particularly that by mixing a con- centrated hot solution of chloride of barium with a solution of caustic soda, hydrated baryta was obtained, and that anhydrous baryta might be economically procured by the calculation of nitrate of baryta prepared from the chloride. The nitrate decomposed by sulphuric acid served for the manufacture of ni- tric acid without distillation, and of artificial sulphate of baryta, 140 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. and chloride of barium treated in the same way furnishes this sulphate and muriatic acid. The nitric acid furnished by the new process marks 10° B., and may be employed directly in the preparation of certain ni- trates ; the muriatic acid, although its density does not exceed 6° B.? may find numerous applications, besides its employment in the production of certain chlorides ; it may be used in the acidification of bones, in washing animal charcoal, in the compo- sition of acid bleaching baths, &c. With the view of ascertaining the limits within which the concentration of these acids should be restrained in order to avoid loss by vaporization, the author made a series of experi- ments, from which it appears — -1st, that the dilute nitric acid cannot be directly concentrated beyond 20° or 25° B. ; and 2ndly, that the direct concentration of the muriatic acid cannot exceed 14° B., and that it is better to stop below this limit. The maximum fixity of hydrochloric gas in solution is at a density of 14° B. ; its boiling-point is then 228° F. Manufacture of tartaric acid. Tartaric acid is prepared from bitartrate of potash by satu- rating the excess of acid of that salt with native carbonate of baryta, and decomposing the neutral tartrate by means of chloride of barium. The ebullition of a solution of bitartrate of potash with native carbonate of baryta produces a liquid which is per- fectly neutral, and may even be slightly alkaline. The tartrate of baryta thus obtained is well washed with cold water, heated, and decomposed with dilute sulphuric acid, in sufficient quantity to remove the whole of the baryta of the tartrate. The solution furnishes tartaric acid, the whole of which crystal- lizes readily ; the deposit of very heavy sulphate of baryta is washed by decantation, and the washing-waters may be used to dilute the sulphuric acid intended for new operations. This substitution of baryta for lime in the manufacture of tartaric acid has the advantages that the base employed is used in the form of artificial sulphate of baryta, and this sulphate separates from the tartaric acid with greater rapidity than sulphate of lime, which is very bulky, and is moreover very soluble in acid liquids. INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. 141 Sulphuret of barium may be substituted for the native carbo- nate and the chloride ; but the tartrate of baryta produced by this reaction has a gelatinous appearance and is washed with difficulty; whilst with the carbonate and chloride the tartrate is granulated and its washing is very easy. The only advantage that would be presented by the employment of the sulphuret would be its furnishing sulphuret, instead of chloride of potassium, the former being the more valuable. Manufacture of citric acid. The same process is applicable to this purpose, with the same advantages. Lemon juice, concentrated or not, is con- verted into citrate of baryta by means of pulverized native carbonate, with the assistance of heat; the saturation being completed by means of a little sulphuret of barium, baryta precipitated by caustic soda, chloride of barium mixed with ammo- nia, or even by ammonia alone. These bodies precipitate the citrate retained in solution by an excess of citric acid. The citrate obtained may be purified by washing with cold water. Its decomposition must be effected with the aid of heat, by 1 equiv. of sulphuric acid of spec. grav. 1*831, diluted with 5 or 6 parts of water. To ascertain the quantity of sulphuric acid necessary for the decomposition of the citrate of baryta (and also of the other barytic salts here mentioned), a known quantity should be incinerated with the addition of a little pure nitrate of potash, and the amount of baryta determined. The citric acid thus isolated, crystallizes with much greater facility than when citrate of lime is decomposed by sulphuric acid ; in the latter case the citric acid retains some sulphate of lime. Manufacture of acetic acid. When crude pyroligneous acid is saturated with native carbo- nate of baryta or sulphuret of barium, it furnishes an acetate Which should be calcined at a moderate temperature, to avoid decomposing it, but sufficiently to cause its solution to deposit the tarry matter. In all cases it is necessary in this calcination to keep below a red heat. This operation may, if necessary, be repeated several times. 142 INDUSTRIAL APPLICATION OF BARYTA. The acetate of baryta thus obtained is decomposed by 1 equiv. of sulphuric acid ; the decomposition is only complete when the solution of the acetate is not too much concentrated. The re- sult is artificial sulphate of baryta and weak acetic acid, which, however, is strong enough to be applied in various ways in the arts. Thus it may be employed directly in the manufacture of white lead, acetate of lead, and other acetates. When the solution of acetate of baryta is too concentrated, the sulphate of bartya does not separate in the ordinary form ; it then retains some acetic acid, and presents a gelatinous, semitransparent appearance, which is not got rid of without difficulty. To obtain a purer acid the acetate of baryta may be converted into acetate of soda, by the addition of sulphate of soda. In this way the formation of the double sulphate of soda and lime, which usually occurs in the ordinary process with lime, is avoided. Chromic acid, hydroferrocyanic acid, $c. Db'bereiner had employed baryta in the preparation of chromic acid, and Porret in that of hydroferrocyanic acid. I. The usual process employed in the laboratory for the isola- tion of chromic acid, consists in the action of an excess of sul- phuric acid upon chromate of potash. To prepare this acid for use in the arts, the author employs chloride of barium and neu- tral chromate of potash, the double decomposition of which furnishes chloride of potassium and chromate of baryta. The latter is treated with 1 equiv. of sulphuric acid, diluted with ten times its volume of water, and the action is aided by heat ; the insoluble sulphate of baryta is rapidly deposited and the solu- tion of chromic acid marks 10° B. The chromic acid may be concentrated to 50° or 60° B., by evaporation in earthenware vessels, or even in leaden cauldrons. The sulphate of baryta, even when washed, retains some chromic acid; it may be used in the preparation of colors. Chromate of baryta may be substituted for chromate of lead in painting ; it is of a bright yellow color, but less intense than that of chromate of lead. Its economy and inalterability give it a preference over the lead-salt. SYRUP OF IPECACUANHA. 143 II. Ferrocyanide of barium, obtained by decomposing a hot solution of ferrocyanide of potassium by chloride of barium, is very sparingly soluble ; it is precipitated at the moment when the solutions are mixed, in the form of small yellow crystals. In this state it still retains some potassium, from which it may be freed by boiling with a solution of chloride of barium. By mixing together in the cold equivalent proportions of the ferrocyanide thus purified and dilute sulphuric acid, the decom- position takes place instantaneously ; sulphate of baryta is thrown down, and the liquid, which acquires a green color, con- tains the hydroferrocyanic acid. By using sulphuric acid of spec. grav. 1-834, diluted with 5 or 6 times its volume of water, the acid isolated presents a density of 12° to 15° B. This acid cannot be concentrated by heat ; to obtain it directly in a state of greater concentration, less water may be employed in its preparation, but then the sulphate of baryta would be washed with more difficulty. The acid should be preserved in well-stoppered earthen vessels. With the acid thus isolated the author obtains hydroferrocyanic acid in a solid state and perfectly pure, by adding an excess of concentrated muriatic acid and a little ether, and drying the product without heat in presence of fragments of quicklmie. In this way he avoids the presence of the chloride of potassium which remains mixed with the acid, when ferrocyanide of potas- sium is treated by the same agents. This process is also applicable to all the acids which are now isolated by the decomposition of their lead-compounds by sul- phuretted hydrogen, or their lime-compounds by sulphuric acid, such as malic acid, phosphoric acid, &c London Chem. Gaz. Nov. 1, 1858, and Dec. 15, 1858, from Comptes Bendus, ON SYRUP OF IPECACUANHA. By Israel J. Gkaham. It has always been an object with the writer in the prepara- tion of this syrup, to conduct the process with a view to avoid any possible injury which might arise, during the prolonged 144 SYRUP OF IPECACUANHA. application of heat requisite to concentrate the solution to the proper degree, when made in accordance with the officinal direc- tions of either the present or preceding Pharmacopoeia ; acting under the belief that in this as well as many other medicinal preparations of organic substances, heat exerts an influence more or less injurious either by its direct effect upon the active principle of the plant itself, — even though this may not be viewed as of a volatile nature — or through the medium of some volatile constituent with which this may be in combination, whereby the result is so modified as frequently to be rendered much less efficient than was contemplated by the formula, or than the same amount of material which it represents, would be in substance. Sometimes the inefficiency of a preparation maybe due to the carelessness or ignorance, or both combined, in the manipulator ; at other times the formula itself may be defective. The effect of it all is to bring discredit upon remedies which in them- selves would be valuable — -were all the necessary precautions observed in their manufacture. The term "water-bath" as generally understood, and which is so frequently directed by the pharmacopoeia as the means of evaporating liquids, is not sufficiently definite to guard against damage in all cases when the aid of heat is required in the ful- filment of specified objects, and the opinion is fast gaining in the writer's mind that, when a formula gives any directions which require the application of heat, the temperature which is proper to be employed, should be distinctly stated and regula- ted accordingly by a thermometer. This, it is believed, would cut off one great source of error pertaining to the preparation of organic remedies. These remarks are somewhat digressory, but the importance of the subject seemed to demand them, and to return to the special object of this paper, which is to offer what the writer conceives to be an improved formula for the syrup of Ipecacu- anha, he would state that his first modification of the formula was in reference to the Pharmacopoeia of 1840, by which process he has continued to prepare the syrup until quite recently. It consisted in exhausting the powdered root by the process of per- colation, with a menstruum composed of two parts of alcohol SYRUP OF IPECACUANHA. 145 and one part of water, using only about one half the quantity of menstruum to effect the exhaustion, as that prescribed by the formula. The liquid was then heated to about 150° or 160° Fahr. by means of a water-bath, and when cold, filtered ; the residue on the filter being well washed with the same menstruum, the resulting solution was reduced to about one-third of the original quantity by means of a water-bath maintained at a temperature of about 150° Fahr. The concentrated liquid thus obtained, containing a portion of alcohol was mixed in due pro- portion with simple syrup. The preparation as thus made was an efficient one, and kept well during warm weather. The large quantity of inert matter taken up by diluted alco- hol, from Ipecacuanha, and afterwards precipitated from the solution on standing, which is greatly increased in bulk by heating the liquid, together with the circumstance of it containing some alcohol, continued to be an obstacle to the full adoption of the formula even when thus modified. This precipitated matter not only impeded filtration but rendered its complete washing very inconvenient, while at the same time the clear liquid retained principles favorable to fermentation. These circumstances induced the writer to seek a menstruum which would extract the active portions of the root only. Among the constituents of Ipecacuanha may be named Emetia, its active principle ; fatty matter, wax, gum, starch, &c. Eme- tia is procured by treating an alcoholic extract of the root with water, decomposing the aqueous solution with magnesia, &c. It was evident therefore to the writer's mind, that alcohol was the proper solvent to use in the preparation of the syrup. A syrup prepared by first treating the root with alcohol, the writer afterward discovered was proposed in a formula published by Jos. Laidley in the 26th vol. of the American Journal of Pharmacy, page 103 ; this process requires too large a propor- tion of menstruum, too much evaporation and consequently a too long application of heat, resulting in a turbid syrup which re- quires to be clarified by the addition of the white of egg and boiled, rendering the process too complex and otherwise objec- tionable. 10 146 SYRUP OF IPECACUANHA. The process which the writer has adopted, and found to com- pletely fulfil every object in view, is the following : Take of Ipecacuanha in powder (prepared by passing through a seive of 60 meshes to the linear inch) two ounces : Prepare a menstruum of one part of water and seven parts of 95 per cent, alcohol ; add sufficient of this to dampen the powder uniformly, (about six fluidrachms) pack it tightly in a funnel displacer* and having laid over the surface a piece of perforated paper, pour on eight fluid ounces, or less, of the above men- struum, covering the top of the funnel with oiled silk to prevent evaporation. When two and a half fluid ounces of liquid pass, remove it and submit to spontaneous evaporation until reduced to one and a half fluid ounces : continue the percolation until five and a half fluid ounces more pass, evaporate this by means of placing the dish over hot water, contained in a suitable ves- sel and removed from the fire, until reduced to half a fluid ounce ; mix this with the fluid ounce and a half first obtained and filter. The result is a fluid extract of which, it is believed, one fluid ounce fully represents one ounce of the root, and which may be prepared in any convenient quantity. The portion of liquid submitted to spontaneous evaporation, contains nearly all the active principle of the above quantity of root ; the percolation is continued to insure its complete exhaustion, and in evaporating this latter product the object is to prevent the temperature rising higher than 140° Fahr. To convert this quantity of fluid extract into syrup of the officinal strength, pour it upon eight ounces of white sugar in powder, contained in a large mortar or dish and expose it until all the alcohol has evaporated, and a perfectly dry powder re- sults ; dissolve this in a quart of water, and after standing awhile with occasional agitation, strain it through a muslin cloth to separate a little resinous or waxy matter which will be found floating, remove this and treat it with two fluidrachms of water in a mortar, then mix it with the strained liquid and filter all through paper ; add sufficient powdered sugar to make the whole * An ordinary glass funnel with a loose plug of cotton in the upper part of the neck. FERRATED TINCTURE OF BARK. 147 measure four pints, agitate occasionally until dissolved, and strain if necessary. It would be better in the writer's opinion, if the strength of this syrup was increased to one ounce of the root to the pint, instead of half an ounce as at present. The syrup prepared by this mode presents a lighter color than when made in the usual way, is perfectly clear and bright, entirely free from alcohol, and although possessing the peculiar odor of the root, is very pleasant to the taste, and it is believed will keep as well as simple syrup. — Journal and Trans, of the Maryland Col of Phar., Dec. 1858. ON FERRATED TINCTURE OF BARK. By William S. Thompson. In the American Journal of Pharmacy, third series, vol. 1st, p. 402, Mr. Samuel Simes of Philadelphia gives a formula for this preparation, in which the tannic acid is removed from the compound tincture of cinchona, by digesting it with hydrated peroxide of iron, dried at a temperature not exceeding 130° Fahrenheit ; which is then filtered and 16 grains of Ammonio citrate of iron, is dissolved in each fluid ounce of the filtrate. Not having succeeded in making a perfectly satisfactory pre- paration, according to the formula of Mr. Simes, I have been led to devise a plan, by which ammonio citrate of iron can be dissolved in the compound tincture without disturbing the chem- ical relations of the tannic acid and the alkaloids, as they exist naturally in the bark. Availing myself of the fact, that a protosalt of iron is not precipitated by tannic acid, either in a free or combined state, I first prepare protocitrate of iron, which is converted into the ammonio citrate, protected by the addition of sugar, evaporated to about the consistence of syrup, and then poured into com- pound tincture of bark, made a little stronger than by the offi- cinal direction. The resulting preparation is a clear tincture of dark brown color, possessing all the aromatic properties of the compound tincture, with but little chalybeate taste. The following is the formula I propose : first take the dry 148 NEW TEST FOR THE PURITY OF CHLOROFORM. ingredients, for twenty fluid ounces of the compound tincture, according to the Edinburg formula ; having properly bruised them, displace with diluted alcohol eighteen fluid ounces of tincture. Next prepare the ammonio citrate of iron as fol- lows : Take of Protosulphate of iron crystallized, 379 grains. Carbonate of soda, - 394 H Liquor ammonia, - 284 minims. Citric acid, - 189 grains. Refined sugar, - - 2 ounces. Water ; a sufficient quantity, Simple Syrup ; a sufficient quantity. Dissolve the protosulphate of iron and carbonate of soda, each separately in four fluid ounces of water and mix the so- lutions adding about half an ounce of simple syrup. When the precipitate has subsided pour off the supernatant liquid and wash thoroughly with water containing about a fluid ounce of simple syrup in each pint ; allow it to settle for about twelve hours and decant. Transfer the precipitate to an evaporating dish, add the citric acid, and when the solution is complete, the liquor ammonias, then the sugar. Evaporate the mixture to two fluid ounces, and add it to the eighteen fluid ounces of tincture. — Journal and Trans, of the Maryland Col. of Phar, NEW TEST FOR THE PURITY OF CHLOROFORM. {Translated by Prof. L. H. Steiner, from the French of M. Roussin, for the Journal.') A new class of salts called double nitro sulphides of iron has just been discovered, and nearly all the representatives of the class possess the very singular property of being absolutely in- soluble in pure chloroform, although soluble in water, alcohol, ether or wood-spirit. When chloroform contains either alcohol, ether or wood-spirit, the nitro-sulphide is dissolved and their presence is detected by a deep coloration of the liquid. In fact all the nitro-sulphides possess great coloring properties ; 5 cen- tigrammes will give 2 litres of alcohol the color of ordinary brandy. Pure chloroform when only hydrated will not be dig- NEW TEST FOR THE PURITY OF CHLOROFORM. 149 colored by these salts. The sensitiveness of the reagent is so great that a thousandth of alcohol, wood-spirit or ether, in the chloroform, can be readily detected. Roussin has experimented with different specimens of the chloroform of commerce and found a percentage of alcohol in some truly fabulous ; and in others, which gave but a very slight opalescence after being agitated with water, the nitro-sulphides produced a color almost black. The test is easily applied, by introducing the chloroform into a tube closed at one end, then adding a few centigrammes of the nitro-sulphides and shaking the contents of the tube. It is allowed then to rest for a few minutes. The chloroform if pure will remain as limpid as distilled water : but if it contain alcohol, ether or wood-spirit, it assumes a dark color, varying with the percentage of these foreign substances, but which is appreciable even when as small an amount as a thousandth is present. To prepare the nitro-sulphide of iron, it is only necessary to mix two solutions, — one of nitrate of potassa and the other of sulphydrate of ammonia, and adding, drop by drop, to this mix- ture a solution of proto sulphate of iron, constant stirring being employed, until the mixture retains but a slight alkaline reac- tion. It is then raised to the boiling point, and is evaporated to dryness over a water bath. The residuum is treated with alcoholized ether and thrown on a filter. By evaporation of this liquid, prismatic crystals of the binitrosulphide of iron are ob- tained which should be washed with weak liquor ammoniac. The product is then dried in the air on some folds of absorbent paper, and preserved in a flask with a ground stopper. This body may be considered as a compound of sulphide of iron, sulphydric acid and binoxide of nitrogen. Its formula is -FeS, N02 + Fe2 S3, N02+ HS. It resembles the double cy- anides of iron by its chemical behavior, and the latent state of the molecules of iron, the nitrpprussiates by the similarity in for- mation, and a grouping so analogous that it is possible to pass from one series to the other by a simple substitution — Journal and Trans, of the Maryland Col. of Phar. 150 ON CRYSTALLIZED VALERIANATE OP ATROPINE. CHEMICAL MATCHES WITHOUT PHOSPHORUS OR OTHER POISON. By M. Canouil. The new matches are absolutely without white or red phos- phorus, ordinary or amorphous. They cannot be used as a poison, and when reduced to their least degree of inflammability give rise to no danger of fire. They are formed essentially of chlorate of potash, mixed with a small quantity of a metallic peroxide, bichromate or oxysulphuret, when it is desired to ren- der them more inflammable. The author has found means to triturate the chlorate of potash, even when dry, without danger of explosion. The new matches diffuse no odour, either in the manufacture or in use ; they light without explosion or projection — Ohem. Graz.,from Comjrtes Rendus, June 28,1858. ON CRYSTALLIZED VALERIANATE OF ATROPINE. By H. Callmann. This salt forms perfectly white and light crusts ; the crys- tals appear to belong to the rhomboidal system, and the faces are very brilliant. At a temperature of 68° F. the crystals soften, and at 89°«6 F. they are liquefied. Under the double influence of air and light, they soon acquire a yellow color. The carbonic acid of the air displaces a certain quantity of valerianic acid, which is recognizable by its peculiar odor. The crystallized salt presents the various reactions of the salts of atropine and of the valerianates. It is extremely solu- ble in water, less so in alcohol, and still less in ether. The analysis of the salt, dried in vacuo at the ordinary tempera- ture, gave :— C 6640 66-20 66-00 H 8-90 8-81 8-50 24-70 24-99 25.50 These numbers lead to the formula C10 H9 O3, C34 H23 N06-f 2 HO. Chem. Qaz. Jan. 1, 1859, from Comptes Rendus, Sept. 6, 1858. \ ARTIFICIAL FORMATION OF SALTPETRE. 151 ON THE CONVERSION OF THE NITROGEN OF NITROGENOUS MATTERS INTO NITRATE OF POTASH. By MM. Cloez and Guignet. The conversion is effected by means of permanganate of pot- ash. The permanganate employed was ascertained to contain no nitrate. Several grammes of crystallized permanganate were converted by sulphurous acid into a mixture of sulphates of manganese and potash, which contained no trace of nitrate. As has already been stated, ammonia in excess reduces per- manganate of potash in the cold, and forms nitrate of potash. But if an excess of permanganate be added and the whole boiled, the nitrate itself is converted into nitrate of potash. In this, as in all the following experiments, the authors have pro- duced at least 1 gramme of crystallized nitre. Aniline immediately reduces permanganate of potash with a great evolution of heat. Carbonate and oxalate of potash are produced, but only traces of nitrate. With quinine, the reaction commences in the cold, but is only completed by boiling. It furnishes carbonate and nitrate of potash, and the potash salt of an acid which appears to be new. Cinchonine is acted upon with more difficulty than quinine. Cyanogen immediately reduces permanganate of potash in the cold. This is also the case with hydrocyanic acid and cya- nide of potassium. In these three cases, nitrate of potash was was readily obtained. The authors think that the action of permanganate of potash upon cyanogen may be employed in the analysis of gaseous mixtures, for example, to separate cyanogen and carbonic acid which has no action on the permanganate, and this is also the case with oxide of carbon, protoxide of nitrogen, &c. Deutox- ide of nitrogen, on the contrary, is absorbed in the cold and forms nitrate of potash. Compounds containing sulphur and cyanogen furnish sul- phate and nitrate of potash. This is the case with the body called mlpho- cyanogen by some chemists, which is obtained by the action of chlorine upon sulphocyanide of potassium. Nitroprussiate of soda is also oxidized very easily, with for- mation of nitrate of potash. Ferrocyanide of potassium mere- 152 ON RUMICINE. ly passes to the state of ferridcyanide, which resists the action of the permanganate. Urea is oxidised with great difficulty ; after boiling for a whole day, it only furnishes small quantities of nitrate. Gelatine is readily acted upon in the cold, forming carbonate and nitrate of potash, besides a peculiar salt of potash, which acquires a bright red color when heated to 392° — 572p F. Pyroxyline is acted upon when boiled, as are also nitronaph- thaline and nitrobenzine. In these three cases a considerable quantity of crystallized nitrate of potash was obtained. Nitronapthaline also furnished a salt presenting the charac- ters of phthalate of potash, the product which is obtained when naphthaline is oxidized by permanganate of potash. Nitrobenzine furnished a salt crystallizing in large rhomboi- dal laminae, containing an acid which is but sparingly soluble in cold water. Of course the oxidation of the nitrated derivatives may fur- nish products different from those obtained by the oxidation of the bodies forming these derivatives. The oxidation of the ni- trated derivatives may even be more easy than that of the origi- nal substances. In general it is difficult to foresee whether a given body will reduce permanganate of potash with more or less difficulty. Thus oxide of chrome, precipitated, washed, and dried at the ordinary temperature, reduces the permanganate in the cold, forming chromate of potash and oxide of manganese. By ebul- lition the reduction is complete in a few minutes, which it would have been impossible to predict from the known properties of hydrated oxide of chrome.- — Ibid, from Comptes Rendus, Nov. 2, 1858. ON RUMICINE. By Karl von Thann. The object of this investigation was to show the identity of rumicine with the chrysophanic acid discovered by Rochleder and Held in Parmelia parietina. Eumicine was first prepared in 1831 by Buchner and Herber- ON RUMICINE. 153 ger, in an extremely impure state, and described by them under the name of lapathine ; they extracted the roots of Rumex ob- tusifolius, first with ether and afterwards with alcohol, and separated the lapathine from the latter extract ; this contains so small a quantity of rumicine that they did not even recog- nize its extremely sensitive reaction with alkalies. In the year 1834 Geiger prepared the substance, to which he gave the name of rumicine, in a pure state from the root of Rumex patientia. He prepared an alcoholic extract of the root, and this, when diluted with water, threw down an insoluble body. The ethereal extract of this body furnished a brownish-yellow residue when evaporated, and this, by repeated washing with al- cohol and finally with ether, was converted into a deep yellow powder with a greenish tinge (resin). From dry and peeled roots Geiger obtained a far finer rumi- cine, which, as he remarks, " was undistinguishable by the eye from the rhabarbarine previously obtained without nitric acid, &c, (from the root of rhubarb) ; it also behaved chemically exactly like that body." Afterwards he purified the rumicine by digestion with nitric acid and hydrated oxide of lead in so- lution in ether ; the rumicine thus obtained was, as Geiger says, of a beautiful bright yellow color, with many crystalline particles. Geiger also obtained rumicine from Rumex obtusifolius, and remarks that this plant contains very little of it. Geiger is therefore the true discoverer of rumicine, and on first preparing it called attention to its near relation and probable identity with rhabarbarine. In 1841 Eiegel investigated the root of Rumex obtusifolius, and obtained rumicine from it in a tolerably pure state, by vari- ous methods, including those of Geiger and Vaudin (the latter recommended his method for the preparation of rheine). At last he prepared rumicine from the ethereal extract of the root, as recommended by Brandes for the preparation of the yellow matter of rhubarb. He distilled off the ethereal extract, fil- tered the granular crystalline yellowish-brown mass deposited in the residue, and then recrystallized it several times from alcohol. The latter method was also followed by the author essentially in the preparation of the rumicine which served for his analy- 154 ON RUMICINE. ses ; but he adopted another mode of purification, because by Riegel's method he only obtained the substance in a very impure state. The coarsely pounded roots of Rumex obtusifolius (Radix lapatJti acuti of the shops) were extracted by anhydrous ether in a displacement apparatus, and the combined extract distilled on the water-bath, until only a small residue was left. On cool- ing, a (hirk brown mass separated from this, which was filtered, washed with a little ether, and then dried between several folds of filtering-paper. When dried, it was boiled with alcohol of spec. grav. 0*833 and filtered ; a dark brown body remained on the filter, whilst, on the cooling of the hot filtrate, a dingy greenish-yellow mass separated therefrom, which remained greenish after repeated solution in alcohol and separation, and only exhibited traces of crystallization. As the green resin could not be separated in this way, the alcoholic solution of the substance was precipitated by a large quantity of water ; the flocculent, yellow precipitate was separated by filtration, and, after drying, dissolved again in alcohol of spec. grav. 0-83B, when a small quantity of a brown body remained undissolved. This operation was twice repeated, but the substance still con- tinued impure. The final purification was effected by the author in accord- ance with the process of Rochleder and Held, employed by them in their investigation of the lichens. For this purpose the substance was treated with a mixture of ammonia and weak alcohol, the filtered solution diluted with water, and neutralized by acetic acid ; the yellow precipitate was completely washed with water, and the same operation was repeated ; the last precipitate obtained was dried and recrystal- lized from alcohol ; the crystalline mass deposited was again dissolved in ether, and the solution left standing in a loosely covered vessel, in which the rumicine slowly crystallized as the ether evaporated. The rumicine thus obtained formed a shining crystalline mass of a light golden-brown color, which was seen under the micro- scope to consist of distinct, yellow, transparent prisms, appa- rently belonging to the monoclinohedric system, and exhibit a golden-yellow color by reflected light. By crystallization from ON RUMICINE. 155 hot alcohol on its cooling, the author obtained rumicine (unfor- tunately in very small quantity) in the form of a pure yellow, crystalline mass, with a golden lustre. The previously men- tioned light-golden-brown, crystalline mass was analysed, and gave results agreeing with the formula proposed by Gerhardt for chrysophanic acid, C28 H10 O8. C 69 59 69-64 28=rl68 6942 H 4-36 4-59 10 10 4-13 0 .. 8 64 2645 This substance was evidently still contaminated with a small quantity of a body containing more carbon or less oxygen, which was also indicated by its darker color. That rumicine does not merely possess a similar per centage composition with chrysophanic acid, but that it is also identical therewith, is shown by its behaviour towards reagents. Rumicine dissolves with extraordinary difficulty in cold water ; it dissolves more readily in ether, and still more in strong alco- hol. When heated upon platinum-foil, it fuses and emits fumes of an intense yellow color, whilst a portion remains in the form of a vesicular coal, which, when more strongly heated, burns away without residue ; if the same experiment be made in a test tube, the colder portion of the latter, becomes coated with a yellow deposit, which appears crystalline and of a golden lus- tre under the microscope. It concentrated sulphuric acid, it dissolves with an intense red color ; and, when the solution is diluted, is thrown down again in yellow, voluminous flakes. In alkalies, it dissolves very readily, with a splendid dark-red color (in potash much more easier than in ammonia): it is precipi- tated without alteration from these solutions by acids. The so- lution in potash becomes violet-blue, and darker by evapora- tion. Potash is the best for rumicine. The ammoniacal solu- tion gives a lilac precipitate with neutral acetate of lead, and a beautiful rose-colored one with alum. The alcoholic solution of rumicine gives a reddish-white pre- cipitate with an alcoholic solution of basic acetate of lead (but none at all with the neutral acetate), which is converted into a rose-colored precipitate by boiling with water. With acetate of copper in alcohol, it gives a blackish-green precipitate, which 156 PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. when diluted and carefully mixed with a few drops of ammonia is converted into a voluminous deep blue precipitate (very differ- ent from hydrated oxide of copper), and is soluble with a vio- let-blue color in an excess of ammonia. The reactions of chrysophanic acid agree perfectly with the above. Besides the method above described, the author also attempt- ed to prepare rumicine by the method recommended some years ago by Rochleder for the preparation of chrysophanic acid ; but the solution of potash in aqueous alcohol extracts from the root, together with the very small quantity of rumicine, so many other substances, that the subsequent purification is attended with as much difficulty as in extraction by ether. There is consequently no doubt that rumicine (also called lapathine) is identical with chrysophanic acid ; and the author concludes his memoir with an expression of his conviction that he has wiped away two out of the chaos of names of imperfectly investigated organic compounds Qhem. Gazette, Jan., 1859, from /Sitzungsber. der Wiss. zu Wien, xxxi. p. 26. PRESERVATION OF ANIMAL AND VEGETABLE SUBSTANCES. A patent has lately been taken out for effecting this object. The improvements consist in coating animal and vegetable sub- stances with a compound formed of vegetable albumen and a suitable antiseptic material. The coating is effected by immers- ing the substances to be preserved in the prepared compound two or three times, each coating being dried or set in a current of air before the next is applied. The object of combining an antiseptic agent with the vegetable albumen is to prevent a par- tial decomposition of the substances before the protective coat- ing is properly hardened. The following means may be adopt- ed for carrying the invention into effect : — supposing a joint of meat to be the substance to be preserved, the meat (with as much of its blood extracted as possible) is first washed or im. mersed in water impregnated with acetate of alumina and al- lowed to drain ; it is then suspended by a string, and allowed to descend into a bath composed by placing about one pound of gum tragacanth in from one and a-half to two gallons of heated UREA AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. 157 water for about twenty-four hours, straining the solution, then mixing with it a warm solution of about six ounces of gelatin or paste, and finally adding about ten ounces of acetate of alumi- na, mixing and straining. The meat is kept in this bath for about two minutes, being drawn and moved about in it by the string ; it is then taken out and suspended in a current of dry air for about twenty- four hours. The process of immersion, &c, is repeated once or twice, as may be considered desirable. — Chemist, Nov. 1858, from the Journal of the Society of Arts. ON UREA AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. By Charles A. Cameron, M, D. At the meeting of the British Association, held at Dublin last year, I read a paper, in which I proved the inutility of ferment- ing liquid manure before applying it to the purpose of fertilis- ing the soil, and demonstrated that urea, without being convert- ed into carbonate of ammonia, may be taken up into the organ- ism of plants to be used as nitrogenous food. The experiments detailed in this paper have not been published in extenso in the Report of the British Association ; I therefore give them here, as well as the results of some other experiments of a practical character, which have since been performed under my direction, and which serve to support the conclusions arrived at from the earlier experiments. EXPERIMENTS. Four earthenware basins, each two feet in depth and two and a-half feet across, were filled with fragments of felspar of differ- ent degrees of fineness, the coarsest fragments being placed lowest. In each of these basins sixty grains of barley were sown on the 5th of May (1857). The basins were then numbered 1, 2, 3, and 4, and in each was placed a portion of an artificial manure, containing the following substances, viz : — The double silicate of potash and soda (soluble), precipitated carbonate of lime, hydrated sulphate of lime, freshly precipitated phosphates of lime and magnesia, and chloride of sodium. The bases and acids of this compound, were in such proportion as nearly to correspond with the general composition of the ash of the barley plant. 158 UREA AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. In addition to the above-named substances (which, it will be observed, contains no nitrogen,) a solution of urea was applied thrice in each week to basins Nos. 1 and 2, and a solution of sul- phate of ammonia to No. 3. No. 4 was intended as a check upon the experiments with the urea, and to it, therefore, no ni- trogenous substance was applied. All the basins were covered with glass shades, the air supplied to the interior of each being freed from ammonia by treatment with dilute sulphuric acid. The urea used in my experiments was prepared by the follow- ing process : — 28 parts of dried ferrocyanide of potassium and 14 parts of peroxide of manganese, thoroughly mixed, were heated to dull redness. The resultant mass, after cooling, was treated with cold water, and the solution thus obtained, mixed with 20-5 parts of crystallized sulphate of ammonia, sulphate of potash and cyanate of ammonia were formed ; and the latter, on the appli- cation of a gentle heat, was converted into urea. I did not sep- arate the sulphate of potash, as its presence did not interfere with the results of the experiments. The felspar in basins Nos. 1 and 2 was occasionally washed with distilled water, and the washings tested for ammonia. I did not, however, in a single instance, detect the presence of this substance, which proves that the urea was not converted in- to carbonate of ammonia. The barley experimented on was the variety known as cheva- lier barley. The growing plants were abundantly supplied with carbonic acid gas and distilled water. The plants were thinned at an early stage of their growth, so that there remained but 15 plants to each square foot of surface. The results of the experiments were as follow : — No. 1. — Period of complete germination, within 5 days. Period of ripening, within 107 days. Mean height of plants, including the ears, 29 inches. Average return from the seed, 9 stalks. Average produce in seed, 28 grains to each stalk. Size of grain, 14,786 to the pound. Amount of nitrogen in 100 parts of the dried grain, 2-740. No. 2. — Period of perfect germination, within 6 days. Period of ripening, within 112 days. UREA AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. 159 Mean height of the plant, including the ears, 26 inches. Average return from the seed, 10 stalks. Average produce from seed, 27 grains from each stalk. Size of grain, 14,672 to the pound. Nitrogen in 100 parts of the dried grain, 2-385. No. 3. — Period of complete germination, within 8 days. Period of ripening, within 105 days. Mean height of the plant, including the ears, 26 inches. Average return from the seed, 12 stalks. Average produce in seed, 25 grains from each stalk. Size of grain, 15,607 to the pound. Amount of nitrogen in 100 parts of the dried grain, 2-388. No. 4. — Perfect germination took place within 8 days, and stalks, on the average, 8 inches in height, were produced, but in no instance were seeds developed. The following conclusions are, I consider, deducible from the results of these experiments : — 1. — That the perfect developement of barley (and by infer- ence, of other plants) can take place under certain conditions in soil and air free of ammonia and its compounds. 2. — That urea, in solution, is capable of being taken un- changed into the organism of plants. 3. — That urea need not be converted into ammonia before its nitrogen becomes available to promote the process of vegetation. 4 — That the fertilizing effects of urea are not inferior to those of the ammoniacal salts. 5 — That there exists no necessity for allowing drainings from stables, or other fertilizing fluids containing urea, to fer- ment, but that, on the contrary, greater benefits must be de- rived from their application in a fresh or unfermented state. This year I induced several farmers to try the comparative effects of fermented and unfermented urine on grass. The gen- eral result has proved the superiority of the latter. The most extensive and accurate experiments were conducted at my re- quest at the Government Model Farm, Glasnevin, near Dublin, by Mr. Baldwin, Lecturer on Agriculture to the Board of Edu- cation. They have completely demonstrated the inutility of preserving drainings for the mere purpose of allowing them to ferment, or in the language of farmers, " to ripen." 160 UREA AS A DIRECT SOURCE OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. It is not a little suggestive, that the Chinese, so remarkable for their admirable economy of the natural manures, apply the urine to the land in an unfermented state. And the most casual thinker will readily understand that it must be wiser to apply it in this state than after a large proportion of its nitrogen has, as a constituent of ammonia, escaped into the atmosphere. Be- sides, they avoid the unnecessary expense of constructing costly liquid-manure tanks. Independently of the experiments which I have made on urea, our knowledge of the composition and properties of the constituents of urine should have led a priori to the conclusion that these are for the most part in that digestible form in which they can be taken up into the organisms of plants. My own labors and those of others have led me to conclude that substances capable of being used as food for plants, must possess the following composition and properties : — 1. — They must be soluble in the solvents usually present in the soil. 2. — They must contain more or less of the elementary con- stituents of vegetable substances. 3. — They must be in a perfectly oxidized {teleoxidic) condi- tion. In this contribution to the theory of manures, I have advanced nothing antagonistic to the views so ably advocated by Liebig on the subject of vegetable nutrition ; on the contrary, I am al- together disposed to believe with him that organic substances cannot minister to the wants of vegetable life. I do not regard urea as an organic substance, any more than I do carbonic acid, cyanogen, or ammonia. These bodies, as well as urea, may be artificially prepared from inorganic materials ; they are, there- fore, not organic bodies, but rather the results of organic action — the ultimate products of the decomposition of organic substan- ces. Carbonic acid, nitric acid, ammonia and the cyanides have been proved to be capable of supplying nutrient materials to plants. There is no theoretical reason why urea should not be added to the list. It is soluble, contains the four principal elementary constituents of vegetable structures, and is a per- fectly teleoxidic body. It therefore possesses the composition and properties which distinguish the "food of plants." — Lon- don Chemist, Nov. 1858. FORMATION OP GUM TRAGACANTH. 161 INQUIRIES INTO THE FORMATION OF GUM TRAGACANTH. By Hugo yon Mohl. (Translated from the Botanische Zeiiung, Jahrg. XIY., p. 33, 1857. by Berthold Seemann, Ph. D., F. L. S., with corrections by the Author.) An inquiry into the nature of gum tragacanth is not without theoretical interest, as it is connected with some difficult points of anatomy and physiology, which have not yet been sufficiently explained. Tournefort (Relation d'un Voyage du Levant, Amsterd. 1718, I. 22,) was the first to whom we are indebted for closer observations on the exudation of gum tragacanth. His obser- vations were made on Mount Ida, in Crete, and on Astragalus oreticus, Lam.* Judging from a figure given by him (p. 21,) the stem of the plant in question attains about one inch in thick- ness. The secretion of tragacanth in the form of twisted fila- ments takes place in June and the succeeding months. Tour- nefort looks upon the gum as the nutritious sap which has be- come thickened by heat, has burst the vessels, discharged itself in the middle (dans le coeur) of the stem, and branches as well as in the medullary rays (dans T interstice des fibres, les quelles sont disposees en rayon,) and is then gradually forced out on the sur- face of the stem, by the sap ascending by the roots, and hard- ens in the air in the form of worms. He further adds the sup- position that the contraction of the fibres of the stem assists the forcing out of the gum, as the hemp-like divided fibres, exposed to the tread of shepherds and horses, draw together in the heat, and favor the excretion of the sap.f * Sieber (Reise nach Creta, ii.5 p. 68) has, it is true, endeavored to show Tour- nefort's statement to be utterly undeserving of credit, as, according to his own (Sieber's) observations, the plant named does not yield any gum tragacanth whatever ; but, as not only Tournefort's statement respecting the places in which the stem of the plant produces gum tragacanth, but also respecting the season of the year in which it is secreted, as well as the aiding of the secretion by wounding the stem, are confirmed a century later by Oliver in Persia, nobody will be misguided by Sieber's contradiction of Tournefort's statement, that the plant alluded to does secrete tragacanth in Crete. If Sieber invokes the testi- mony of Belon in support of his view, he does so improperly ; for Belon (Obser- vat., p. 23) merely says the gum is collected | We have thought it well to give the quotation from Tournefort in full. — Ed. Ph. J. a # * * Elle donne naturellement de la gomme Adragant sur la fin de Juin, 11 162 FORMATION OF GUM TRAGACANTH. With these statements agree in many instances those of Oli- ver (Reise durch das turkische Reich. (Germ, transl.), iii., page 293,) who observed the secretion of gum tragacanth from As- tragalus verus in Persia. In this species also the stem attains an inch and more in thickness, and the gum appears during the time of the greatest summer heat, partly when the influx of sap "bursts the bark, partly when the footsteps of animals injure the stem. Additional confirmation respecting the season in which traga- canth is forced out of the stems, is contained in the statements of Labillardiere and Landerer, the first of whom saw the gum in the Lebanon on Astragalus gumifer, LabilL, during the month of August ; the latter in Greece, on Astragalus aristatus, dur- ing August and September. The statement that wounding the plant favors the exudation of tragacanth, is likewise confirmed by the custom of making incisions in the plant, prevalent about Bitlis (Ritter's Urdkunde, x., p. 689.) As another external condition favoring the secretion of trag- acanth, Labillardiere (Rozier, Observations sur la Physique, &c, 1790, t. xxxvi., p. 48) names the humidity of the air, stating that in the Lebanon, cloudy nights and heavy dews are necessa- ry for the emission of the gum, which only flows abundantly during the night and a short time after sunrise. On this ac- count the shrubs growing in less elevated parts of the Lebanon, and subjected to great heat during the day, and a very limited nocturnal humidity, yield but little tragacanth. These statements obtain a confirmation from the observation et dans les mois suivants: dans ce temps la, le sue nourricier de cette plante, epaissi par la chaleur, fait crever la pluspart des vaisseaux ou il est renferme : non settlement il s'amasse dans le coeur des tiges et des branches, mais dans l'interstice des fibres, lesquelles sont disposees en rayon, comme il paroit, en la tige [fig.] A: ce sue se coagule en filets, de me me que dans les porositez de l'ecorce ; et ces filets passant au travers de cette partie, sortent peu a pen, & mesure qu'ils sont poussez par le nouveau sue que les racines fournissent : cette matiere exposee a Fair s'endurcit et forme ou des grummeaux ou des lames tortues, semblables a des vermisseaux plus ou tnoins longs, suivant la matiere qui se presente : il semble meme que la contraction des fibres de cette plante coutribuea la l'expression de la gomme Adragant : ces fibres deliees comme de la filasse, decouvertes et foulees par les pieds des bergers et des chevaux, se racourcissent par la chaleur, et facilitent la sortie du sac extravase." — Relation d'un Voyage du Levant, Paris, 1717, tome i., pp. 55-6. FORMATION OF GUM TRAGACANTH. 163 made in Greece by Eraas (Synopsis Plant. Florece Olassicce, p. 59), who states that no gum is produced in the mountains of the Peloponnesus by Astragalus artistatus and A. ereticus, nor on Mount Parnassus, nor on the drier mountains generally, whilst there is gum collected in Achaia. He considers the exudation of the gum as dependent upon climate influences, and ascribes it to the quantity of cold rain alternating with great heat in the mountains of Oalaryta, &e. Labillardiere, from the facts observed by him, draws the con- clusion that the tragacanth shrub, exposed during the day to the broiling heat of the sun, partakes quickly of the moisture of fogs, and that the gum tragacanth, swollen by the moisture of fogs and dews, forces a passage through the pores of the bark, and appears in the form of twisted worms or drops. The observations of Labillardiere induced De Candolle (As- tragologia, 1802, p. 12,) to explain the manner in which gum tragacanth is forced out in a somewhat different way. He com- pared the exudation of tragacanth with that of the Nemaspora erocea (at that time held to be a mere gum, and not a plant), from the bark of beech-wood, preserved in a moist place. This view he still maintained in his Physiology (L, p. 175,) after he had acknowledged JSFemaspora to be an independent plant, having been convinced that the appearance of Nemaspora on dead trees stood in connexion with the moisture of the atmos- phere, and concluding from this fact that the influence of mois- ture caused the wood to expand more than the bark, in conse- quence of which the former was as if tightly sheathed, and therefore could press mucilaginous substances contained in the inner layers of the bark to the surface. This explanation did not meet with favor from Treviranus (Physiol, ii., p. 21,) who assumed that the appearance of the gum originated in an in- creased secretion of the same. The above-named botanists entertained not the slightest doubt that gum tragacanth was a mucilaginous sap secreted by the plant ; and the same applies to the pharmacologists, even the most recent, as for instance, Pereira. Kutzing (Philosoph. Bot- anik, i., p. 203,) on the contrary, in consequence of microscopi- cal investigations of the exuded gum, advanced the view that it was an independent organism, a fungus, consisting of cells filled 164 FORMATION OF GUM TRAGACANTH. with starch, between which the fibres of the mother plant were placed. The walls of these cells, formed by several thick lay- ers, consisted of bassorine, and were lined with a tender mem- brane of cellulose. Proofs of the fungoid nature are looked for in vain. They would not have been superfluous, even if only on account of the great curiosity which a fungus with cellulose membrane and starch granules would present. An essentially different origin is assigned by Unger (Anatom. und Physiolog. der Pflanzen, 119) to gum tragacanth. He states it forms in several species of Astragalus the secondary layers of the medullary rays. Other microscopical investigations of tragacanth, from which something might be learned, are unknown to me. Those of Guibourt [Hist. Naturelle des Drogues Simples, 4 e*dit., torn, iii., 420) are without interest. In order to obtain an explanation of the nature of gum traga- canth, I considered it, above all, necessary to examine not only the different kinds of commercial gum, but also the stems of a greater number of Astragali of the section Tragaeanthce. Un- fortunately my materials were so far incomplete, that there were no thick stems at my disposal, the largest being herbarium spec- imens, about the thickness of a little finger, on the bark of which no exudation of gum tragacanth was visible. The follow- ing will show, however, that these materials were, notwithstand- ing, sufficient to reveal the manner in which the gum is formed. For the examination of exuded tragacanth, thin, flat pieces of the gum are best suited. A transverse section of such a flat piece, macerated in water, shows a considerable number of thick- walled cells lying in an amorphous mucilaginous mass. The walls of these cells are colorless and gelatinous, and consist of thick, partly well-marked layers, resembling in this respect the stratified substance of a starch granule. In the cavity of this cell small starch granules, more or less numerous, are deposited. A closer investigation of these cells requires the application of iodine. This acts but very slowly, whilst an iodized solution of chloride of zinc produces during the first few hours no other al- teration than that of coloring the starch granules blue and the walls of the cells pale yellow. It is only after the action of the solution for twenty-four hours or more that the walls of the HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. 165 cells begin to exhibit distinct colors. The inner thin layer of the cells is now found to be of a lively violet color, and like- wise in the thick swollen cell-membrane itself by thin layers more or less intensely violet-colored, and separated from each other by thick, uncolored, gelatinous layers, are apparent. The outer of these colored layers are often rent, in which case the uncolored gelatinous substance has partly forced itself through the rents and become mixed with the mucilaginous substance in which the cells lie imbedded. On account of this partial solution of the outer cell-layers, the size of the cells, the diameter of which is about 0;//.07, cannot be accurately determined, and many of the torn-loose pieces of the cell layers colored violet by iodine are irregularly distributed in the amorphous mucilaginous mass. In vermiform tragacanth the cells were far less perfectly pre- served, and the amorphous mucilage in which membranes and starch granules of a paler or darker violet color were scattered, constituted a relatively larger portion of the entire mass. Still less frequently occur well-preserved remains of cells in the yellowish nodular tragacanth of Syria, in which moreover the abundance of starch granules is far more considerable, and the granules themselves larger in size and frequently united into compound grains. To be continued. HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. * By Prof. Dr. C. Claus of Dorpat. The first and at that time only apothecary in Russia was an Englishman, James Frenkham, who together with physicians had been sent by Queen Elizabeth to Czar Ivan Wasiliewich IV. about the year 1584. Previous to that time, medicine and pharmacy were practised by priests and monks, and also by * This was the subject of an address, delivered by Prof. Claus in 1853 in the " aula" of the University of Dorpat, and subsequently published in the " Inland," a periodical little known outside of Russia. The author revised and republished it in Wittstein's Vierteljahresschrift. 1838, p. 502 — 527. The above paper is an abridgement of this latter paper by Mr. John M. Maisch of Philadelphia. — Ed. Am. Jour. Ph. 166 HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. women, who attended chiefly to diseases of women and children. Czar Michael Feodorowich found the "Apothecaries Board," the first medical office in Russia, entrusted with the regulation of all medical affairs ; he induced many foreign physicians to emigrate to Russia, and furnished the army with field apothe- cary's shops containing about 25 medicaments. Alexei Michailowich opened a second apothecary's store in Moscow, and began to collect roots and herbs in the country in- stead of having them imported from England ; he had three large botanical gardens planted in the neighborhood of Moscow, and ordered the woiwods to pay part of the taxes in medicinal plants from the interior. The third imperial store was opened in Wologda, and Feodor, the brother of Peter I., built the first hospital in Moscow, connecting therewith a surgical college for native physicians. During the reign of Peter the Great, eight private drug stores were opened till 1712, and imperial stores in Riga, Reval, Kasan and other cities. Peter founded in Petersburg the land and sea hospitals, together with a college for army surgeons, in Lubna, the great field drug store from which all the smaller ones were furnished with medicines, and the large prescription store which is still in existence in St. Petersburg, from which poor civil and military officers receive their medicine gratis. During the reign of Anna, Elizabeth and Catharine II., the number of drug stores increased considerably in both capitals, but in less proportion in the provincial towns where the government was obliged to establish stores for the accommodation of the people, and of late it was found necessary to place impediments in the way of obtaining licenses for the cities so as to force pharma- ceutists to the smaller country towns. Within 270 years the number of pharmaceutical stores was increased from 1 to near 700 (Poland excluded,) of which at last two-thirds were estab- lished in this century. The furniture of the first crown stores was imported from England and made of costly polished woods, the bottles of cut crystal-glass with covers of massive silver; among the medicines were pearls and precious stones, bezoardicum solare, a powdered gold perfumed with amber, &c. The price of some Russian drugs at that and the present time compares as follows : Musk V HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. 167 per lb. 12 to 24 rubels, now 300 r.; Castor 1 r. 50 cop. to 2 r. 50 cop., now 200 to 250 r.; Rhubarb per pud 20 r.; now 120 r. A special officer with several clerks has charged with the supervision of the stores, the regulation of the income and the expenses ; the apothecaries had only to prepare and deliver the medicines, attend alternately to the business, and were subject to a strict discipline and control. Some of them were called alchymists ; they were probably proprietors of formulas for popular nostrums. The salary of the apothecaries was con- siderable for that time — -300 to 360 rubels ; it was larger than that of the court surgeons, but less than the physicans', which reached 500 or 600 rubels ; or in lieu of a part thereof board and liquors from the Court. The Court apothecaries had to be present at the examination of physicians soliciting an appoint- ment, and to sign the diplomas of physicians who had graduated in Russia. The first work in the Russian language treating on medicine, pharmacy and natural history, entitled Oure-booJc, was a manuscript of 1560 folio pages with illustrations of plants, animals and minerals ; it was translated from the Polish, in 1588 the original of which was a Latin work ; several copies were preserved in Moskow up to 1812, since which time they have not been found. With the foundation of St. Petersburg the emigration of physicians and apothecaries into Russia commenced, and new life was thus infused by the establishment of private drug stores, so that under the reign of Elizabeth Petrowna, we meet in John (j. Model with the first pharmaceutical author, who was looked upon as the first chemical authority in Russia, and whose periodical « Chymische Nebenstunden," (Chemical Leisure Hours,) was translated into French. The Academy of Sciences of St.Petersburg opened in 1725, and the first Russian University, founded in 1755, had a most salutary influence on the progress of pharmacy, as had also the surgical institute of St. Petersburg, where the lectures were delivered in German; to those of phar- maceutical interest were invited the young pharmaceutists of the private establishments. Previously, by command of Catha- rina II., several medical works were translated into Russian, in which language also some original works appeared. The first Russian Dispensatory was published in 1765, the second edition 168 HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. 1778; the Pharmacopoeia rossica castrensis appeared in 1779. Among the pharmaceutists of this time was Lowitz, who discover- ed the absorbing power of charcoal, and Kirchhoff who first transformed starch into sugar. In the present century, the establishment of the Medico-Chi- rurgical Academies of St. Petersburg and Moskow proved of great advantage to the pharmaceutists, particularly since the connec- tion therewith of a pharmaceutical department, where not only practical apprentices and assistants were admitted, but also pupils of higher schools, who could pass the examination, and who were thus instructed first theoretically before they could acquire the requisite practical knowledge. The University of Dorpat, where the first distinct pharmaceutical institute was founded, has the merit of having educated the ablest Russian pharmaceutists. The reason for this fact is, that from the be- ginning at this University the professorship of the pharmaceuti- cal branches has been entrusted to practical men of this pro- fession, which was never compelled to take a subordin aterank, as is too often the case in the hands of men otherwise too much engaged professionally. The following celebrated pharmaceutists occupied there the chair of chemistry : Grindel, Giese, T. F. Goebel, Arzt, Scherer, Osann, Siller and Charles Schmidt. Scherer was the editor of the Northern Journal for Chemistry, and the first president of the Pharmaceutical Society of St. Petersburg, which, by his intercession, received the imperial sanction in 1819. Not until more recently did men acquire in other parts of Russia decided reputation in chemistry. After the opening of academies and universities, the exami- nation of young pharmaceutists was taken from the hands of appointed physicians and entrusted to those institutions. Under Nicolai Pawlowich the regulations concerning pharmaceutists were completed. There are now three pharmaceutical degrees in Russia, apothecaries' assistants who are allowed to practise pharmacy under the supervision of persons of a higher degree ; provisors who have to serve three years as assistants and to pass examinations, must have absolved an academic course ; they may become possessors of stores ; magistri pharmacies must be provisors for one year, and may compete for professorships and the higher pharmaceutical offices. HISTORY OF PHARMACY IN RUSSIA. 169 Of the 700 dispensing stores in Russia, there are 75 in St. Petersburg, 26 in Moscow, 4 in Dorpat, 14 in Riga (60,000 in- habitants) and one in each of the following cities : Astrachan (46,000 inhabitants,) Perm, Orenburg, Ufa, Catharineburg, Jobolsk, Tomsk and Irkutzk, all places of from 15 to 40,000 in- habitants. In Siberia, there is one dispensing store for each 20,000 square miles (about 400,000 sq. m. Engl.) The furni- ture and the interior arrangements of these stores are generally unexceptionable, and the fixtures of some stores in the principal cities have cost as high as 10,000 rubels (about $7,000.) Model pharmaceutical establishments, however, are more fre- quently found in the interior, particularly in the provincial capitals. In all establishments may be found good sets of pharmaceutical and chemical apparatus, mostly with the latest improvements, and their business is purely pharmaceutical with- out the addition of the grocery, hardware, liquor or other busi- ness, as is sometimes met with in other countries. The amount of trade of the Russian drug stores is of course very unequal. There may be 2 with an income of 40,000 rubels, 5 with about 25,000 r,, about 50 with from 10 to 15,000 r., while the majority have a gross revenue of 3 to 5,000 r., and in the small interior towns between 1000 and 2500 r.; the smallest business amounting to but 800 r. annually, is done in Zaryzin, a town with 4426 inhabitants. In regard to education, the mass of the Russian apothecaries compare favorably with those of other countries , the ignorant are by far in the minority. With the exception of the capitals, the pharmaceutists are so thinly scattered throughout that colossal empire, that they are in fact lost in the space, and a mutual intercourse between them cannot be kept up. Of late, pharmaceutists have been appointed professors at the Universities of St. Petersburg and Moscow, and thus had occasion to more widely distinguish themselves. Among the living Russian phar- maceutists native as well as naturalized, are some who have gained fame beyond the limits of Russia, and many men dis- tinguished in other sciences have been reared in the school of pharmacy. Formerly Scherer's Northern Journal of Chemistry was the organ of the Russian chemists and pharmaceutists; but there 170 TESTING NITRIC ACID, ETC., FOR IODINE. are now few pharmaceutical authors in Russia, owing to the foreign literature, with which in a mercantile point of view a competition is impossible. Apothecaries and their business free of any and all taxation. ON IODIDE OF ETHYLE. Br Dr De. Vrij. For the preparation of large quantities of iodide of ethyle de Vrij recommends the following method. Absolute alcohol, which must be kept well cooled, is saturated with dry hydrochloric acid gas, and the amount of hydrochloric acid determined in a sam- ple. This alcoholic solution of the gas is then placed in a retort with as much powdered iodide of potassium as is exactly necessa- ry to form chloride of potassium ; the mixture is allowed to stand a day, and then the iodide is distilled oft", washed, and rectified. In the same manner iodide of methyle may be pre- pared. On adding wood-spirit saturated with hydrochloric acid to iodide of potassium, an action accompanied with consider- able rise of temperature is established. Bromide of ethyle is easily prepared by distilling 4 parts of bromide of potassium with 5 parts of a mixture, consisting of 2 parts oil of vitriol and 1 part of alcohol of 96 per cent. — London Chem. 6faz. Dec. 1, 1858, from Journal de Pharmacie. ON THE TESTING OF NITRIC ACID AND NITRATE OF SODA FOR IODINE By Professor Stein. The problem to be solved is evidently the setting free of the iodine present in the nitric acid in the form of iodic acid (or per- haps more correctly chloride of iodine) ; in other words to effect a process of reduction within the strongly oxidizing nitric acid. After several unsuccessful attempts the author employed tin as a reducing agent, and sulphuret of carbon for