Chapter VI: Section 3: This Act shall not take effect until the first day of July, (3)

The valerianate of oxide of ethyle (valerianic ether) was obtained by distilling, together, alcohol, oil of vitriol, and valerianic acid; it was well washed, dried over chloride of calcium, and re-distilled. It is an oily liquid, with a penetrating smell of fruit, and of valerian; of specific gravity, 0,894. (Otto). It is miscible with alcohol and ether: it has an agreeable, cool, and aromatic taste.

I prepared the valerianate of quina, both by double decomposition, and by direct combination of the base with the acid.

That by double decomposition, was prepared by adding to a warm solution of neutral sulphate of quinine, a warm solution of valerianate of baryta; the mixture was allowed to stand for a while, and filtered to separate the insoluble sulphate of baryta; the filtrate was evaporated at a temperature of about 100°, until crystals made their appearance, when it was set aside for {114} further crystallization. The crystals obtained by this process are in silky tufts and perfectly white.

The valerianate of quina, made by the direct combination of the acid with the base, was effected by triturating, in a mortar, freshly precipitated quina, with water and valerianic acid, until the quina had disappeared. It was then exposed in shallow dishes, to a current of air; when sufficiently evaporated, octohedral crystals were formed. Valerianate of quina in both forms dissolves readily in water.

When a solution of valerianate of quina is evaporated at a temperature of 130°, it does not crystallize, but has the appearance of an oil.

From the different appearances of this salt, it is highly probable that they each differ in composition. This phenomena is worthy of a thorough investigation.

The morphia salt was prepared in the direct way. It crystallizes in silky tufts; it dissolves readily in water.

Although but three of the salts of valerianic acid are employed in medicine, namely, those of _peroxide of iron_, oxide of zinc, and _quinine_, there appears to me no reason why those of _potash_, _soda_, _ammonia_, _teroxide of bismuth_, and _oxide of ethyle_, (_valerianic ether_), should not be employed by the physician.

In conclusion, I must express my sincere thanks to Mr. Savory, for his kindness in having placed at my disposal the materials necessary for the preparation of this series.

ESSENCE OF PINE APPLE.

The above essence is, as already known, butyric ether, more or less diluted with alcohol; to obtain which pure, on the large scale and economically, the following process is recommended:―

Dissolve 6 ℔s. of sugar and half an ounce of tartaric acid, in 26 ℔s. of boiling water. Let the solution stand for several days; then add 8 ounces of putrid cheese broken up with 3 ℔s. {115} of skimmed and curdled sour milk, and 3 ℔s. of levigated chalk. The mixture should be kept and stirred daily in a warm place, at the temperature of about 92° Fahr., as long as gas is evolved, which is generally the case for five or six weeks.

The liquid thus obtained, is mixed with an equal volume of cold water, and 8 ℔s. of crystallized carbonate of soda, previously dissolved in water, added. It is then filtered from the precipitated carbonate of lime; the filtrate is to be evaporated down to 10 ℔s., when 5 1/2 lbs. of sulphuric acid, previously diluted with an equal weight of water, are to be carefully added. The butyric acid, which separates on the surface of the liquid as a dark-colored oil, is to be removed, and the rest of the liquid distilled; the distillate is now neutralized with carbonate of soda, and the butyric acid separated as before, with sulphuric acid.

The whole of the crude acid is to be rectified with the addition of an ounce of sulphuric acid to every pound. The distillate is then saturated with fused chloride of calcium, and re-distilled. The product will be about 28 ounces of pure butyric acid. To prepare the butyric acid, or essence of pine apple, from this acid, proceed as follows:—Mix, by weight, three parts of butyric acid with six parts of alcohol, and two parts of sulphuric acid in a retort, and submit the whole, with a sufficient heat, to a gentle distillation, until the fluid which passes over ceases to emit a fruity odor. By treating the distillate with chloride of calcium, and by its re-distillation, the pure ether may be obtained.

The boiling point of butyric ether is 238° Fahr. Its specific gravity, 0,904, and its formula C‗{12} H‗{12} O‗{4}, or C‗{4} H‗{5} O + C‗{8} H‗{7} O‗{3}.

Bensch’s process, above described, for the production of butyric acid, affords a remarkable exemplification of the extraordinary transformations that organic bodies undergo in contact with ferment, or by catalytic action. When cane sugar is treated with tartaric acid, especially under the influence of heat, it is converted into grape sugar. This grape sugar, in the {116} presence of decomposing nitrogenous substances, such as cheese, is transformed in the first instance into lactic acid, which combines with the lime of the chalk. The acid of the lactate of lime, thus produced, is by the further influence of the ferment changed into butyric acid. Hence, butyrate of lime is the final result of the catalytic action in the process we here have recommended.

ON A REMARKABLE SPECIMEN OF DECOMPOSED CHLOROFORM.

BY JONATHAN PEREIRA, M.D., F.R.S.,

Physician to the London Hospital.

In July of the present year I received from Mr. Grattan, apothecary of Belfast, a specimen of chloroform, accompanied with a note, from which the following is an extract:―

“Some weeks prior to October 25, 1851, I received from my friend Dr. M’Killen a small bottle of chloroform which he had had of me two or three months previously, and which he stated was subject to very singular changes of color, despite the stopper never having been removed.

At the time he handed it to me the fluid exhibited a delicate pink tint, as though colored with cochineal, and was put aside in a glass case in my shop, of which I kept the key myself. The case was exposed to the diffused light of a large shop window but not to the direct rays of the sun.

Conceiving that the chloroform had by some unobserved means or other become accidentally colored, I took very little interest in the matter, and was not surprised to find it fade gradually, and in a short time become perfectly colorless—and I made a note to that effect upon the 25th of October, {117} concluding that there must have been some error of observation on the part of Dr. M’Killen.

On the 16th of November, however, it again began to change, and the enclosed notes were made, from time to time, as I happened to have opportunity of noticing it.

I tried it under different conditions of light and temperature, without their exerting apparent influence upon it, and being unable to form the slightest conjecture as to the cause or nature of the molecular disturbance which produces these chromatic changes, have taken the liberty of forwarding it to you, should you consider it worthy of attention.

It is at present colorless, and the stopper fast in; and I would only suggest that, before removing the stopper, it might be well to observe for yourself whether changes similar to those I have noticed may not occur again.

1850.
Oct. 25. Perfectly colorless.
Nov. 16. Faint Pink.
18. Fading.
25. Faint pink, as on the 16th.
26. Dirty-looking, neutral tint, without any pink.
Dec. 17. Pink again.
21. Ditto, and deeper.
27. Perfectly colorless, after having passed through various
shades of pink.
1851.
Jan. 10. Again pink.
11. Faint neutral tint.
Feb. 19. Perfectly colorless. On shaking the
vial, observed a deposit on its sides,
like small crystals, but cannot say
that they were not there before.
21. Pink and deeper than ever.
March 10. Deep pink.
12. Faint pink.
13. Colorless.
28. Colorless.
May 16. Colorless. No change having occurred
between the 13th March and 16th
May, concluded too hastily that the
property of changing its color, upon
whatever cause dependent, had been
lost, for on
17. It again became faintly pinked.
19. Deeper pink.
22. Fading.
24. Fading.
31. Colorless.
June 13. Again pink.
16. Ditto.
17. Colorless.
July 2. Ditto, up to present date, when it again became pink.
3. Deeper.
5. Still very deep.
7. Fading
13. Perfectly colorless.

The foregoing changes of color were not influenced by any change of temperature between 27° and 86° Fahr., nor by exposure to, nor seclusion from light. The stopper being fast, atmospheric pressure cannot have been connected therewith. Whether it may have been influenced by electrical changes, am not prepared to say.” {118}

The specimen of chloroform sent me by Mr. Grattan was, in July, quite colorless, and on the sides of the bottle a few minute crystals were observed. The stopper of the bottle was, however, so firmly fixed in that I could not remove it, and I, therefore, placed the bottle on the mantel-shelf in my library exposed to diffused light, for the purpose of observing the changes which its contents would undergo.

In the course of a few weeks it began to acquire a pinkish or amethystine tint, as described by Mr. Grattan. This slightly augmented in intensity for a few days, and then became somewhat paler. But for several weeks, during which it remained in the same situation, it never became colorless, though the intensity of the color was frequently changing.

The color of the liquid was precisely that of a weak solution of permanganate of potash.

Some weeks ago I placed the bottle in a dark cupboard, and at the expiration of about three weeks found that the liquid had become quite colorless. As the stopper was still immovable, I was obliged to cut off the neck of the bottle to get at the contents. I found that the chloroform had undergone decomposition, and had acquired a powerful and irritating odor, somewhat allied to, but distinct from, that of hypochlorous acid. The vapor yielded white fumes when a rod moistened with solution of ammonia was brought in contact with it, blue litmus paper was reddened but not bleached by it. A few drops of the liquid were placed on a watch glass and volatilized by a spirit lamp; they left scarcely any appreciable residue.

The crystals which lined the bottle were then examined. They were few in number, and not larger than pins’ points. They were white, and when examined by the microscope, were found to be six-sided pyramids, like the crystals of sulphate of potash. Some of them were heated to dull redness in a test tube, without undergoing any appreciable change. When heated on the point of a moistened thread in the outer cone of the flame of a candle, they communicated a violet-white tinge to the flame, characteristic of a potash-salt. They readily {119} dissolved in water, and the solution did not yield any precipitate on the addition of a solution of nitrate of baryta, showing that the salt was not a sulphate. The solution was boiled with nitric acid, and then treated with a solution of nitrate of baryta, but no precipitate was observed. Nitrate of silver produced in the aqueous solution of the crystals a white precipitate, soluble in ammonia, but insoluble in nitric acid.

Whether these crystals were in any way connected with the change of color which this sample of chloroform underwent, I am unable to determine; but I suspect not. I am anxious, however, to draw the attention of others to the subject, in the hope that larger specimens of the salt may be obtained for examination. For at present the circumstances under which chloroform frequently undergoes decomposition are very obscure. Except in this instance, I have never met with, nor heard of, any sample of chloroform which underwent these remarkable changes of color.

The chloroform was transferred into another bottle, on the sides of which a few minute crystals are now formed. But since the removal of the stopper the pink color has not re-appeared.

I have written to Mr. Grattan to obtain, if possible, further information respecting this specimen of chloroform. But he tells me he has not any more of the sample, and has no means of ascertaining by whom it was made, as about the time it was purchased of him he had in his shop parcels from London, Edinburgh and Dublin, as well as a small quantity prepared in Belfast, and he is quite unprepared to say from which of them it was taken.

I suspect that the pink color of the chloroform must have been due to the presence of manganese. If so, was this metal derived from the chloride of lime used in the manufacture of chloroform? Mr. Squire informs me that he has occasionally found the solution of chlorinated soda to become of a pinkish hue after being prepared a few days (not immediately), and that he has attributed it to some manganese carried over with the {120} chlorine gas, as he does not remember having observed this change when the gas had been passed through water before entering the solution of carbonate of soda.

If this suspicion should prove well founded, it is obvious that the purity of the chloride of lime employed in the preparation of chloroform deserves the attention of the manufacturer.

_Postscript._—Subsequently to the reading of this paper before the Pharmaceutical Society, I have received from Mr. William Huskisson, jun., a specimen of pink chloroform, which, he informs me, owes its remarkable color to the presence of manganese, derived from peroxide of manganese employed in the purification of chloroform, as recommended by Dr. Gregory, (see _Pharmaceutical Journal_, vol. ix., p. 580.)

Mr. W. Huskisson, jun., tells me, that he has observed in his specimen neither the alterations of color nor the crystals met with in the specimen sent me by Mr. Grattan.

* * * * *

The chairman stated, that he had never, in the various specimens of chloroform, of which his firm had always a large quantity in stock, observed the pink color described by Dr. Pereira, nor had he ever seen any crystals deposited in the bottles, but he would have a more minute examination made with the view of ascertaining whether such existed. When the chloroform was first drawn over, and before it was purified, it frequently possessed more or less of a brown color, but this was quite distinct from the character described in the paper which had just been read.

Mr. D. Hanbury observed, that the use of manganese had been suggested in the process for purifying chloroform, and its presence might in this way be accounted for.

Mr. Barnes thought it desirable that the decomposed chloroform should be examined for formic acid. Although constantly subject to decomposition, no satisfactory explanation of the nature of the change had yet been afforded.

{121}

REPORT PRESENTED TO THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE OF PARIS,

ON THE SUBSTITUTION OF AN ARTIFICIAL IODURETTED OIL FOR COD LIVER OIL.

_By a Commission composed of Messrs. Gibert, Ricord, Soubeiren and Guibourt._

On the 20th of August, 1850, the Academy appointed a commission, composed as above, to whom was submitted a memoir, by M. Personne, entitled, “Researches on the Cod-liver and Skate Oils; and on the preparation of an ioduretted oil, by which they may be replaced as Medicinal Agents.” A note was also submitted to us on the same subject, from M. Deschamps, and another from M. Marchall, the latter of which claimed for the author priority in the employment of ioduretted oil of almonds, as a substitute for cod-liver oil.

We proceed now to report the results of our examinations of these communications, and of the investigations to which the enquiry has led.

Cod-liver oil has long been the object of a considerable commerce arising principally from the decided superiority which it possesses over other animal oils, for the preparation of chamois leather; but it has only been within about twenty years that it has been used in medicine. It was first employed as a remedy for rheumatic pains, then for bronchial affections, and subsequently as a remedy for scrofula and consumption. It now constitutes one of the medicinal agents most extensively used, and one of those, on the action of which medical men place the greatest reliance, as a remedy capable either of curing very formidable diseases, or of retarding their fatal termination.

The most important memoir which has been published on cod-liver oil is that of Dr. Jongh, in which three kinds of oil are described as met with in commerce, which are called the _black_, the _brown_, and the _white_ cod-liver oil. These oils are represented to consist, principally, of oleic and margaric acids, and glycerine, and, as accessory bodies, of butyric acid, acetic {122} acid; some principles appertaining to the bile, a non-azotised yellow or brown coloring matter, called gaduine, iodine, phosphorus, and some inorganic salts. In France, Messrs. Girardin and Preisser have been engaged in comparing the effects of the oil obtained from the cod with that obtained from the ray; and they advocate the superiority of the latter for medicinal use. But this superiority seems to depend, in part, on the circumstance, that the oil obtained from the livers of the ray, being carefully prepared by the pharmaciens, and being transparent, and of a light yellow color, proves less offensive to the patients than the cod-liver oil of commerce, which is generally thick, of a dark color, and has a disagreeable flavor. This, however, is scarcely admitted at the present time. Moreover, it appears from recent observations, that the above characters cannot be much depended upon for distinguishing the two kinds of oil, in consequence of their being so variable.

According to Messrs. Girardin and Preisser, these two oils contain iodine in the state of iodide of potassium, and in quantity much less than had been indicated by Dr. Jongh. The latter author gives, as follows, the quantity of iodine in 1,000 parts of oil:―

Black cod-liver oil 0,295 parts of iodine. Brown cod-liver oil 0,406 parts of iodine. White cod-liver oil 0,374 parts of iodine.

Messrs. Girardin and Preisser have found in a litre (thirty-five fluid ounces),

Of ray-liver oil 0,180 gramme of iodine. Of cod-liver oil 0,150 gramme of iodine.

According to M. Gobley, a litre of ray-liver oil, prepared by direct action of the fire, contains twenty-five centigrammes of iodide of potassium. M. Goodley was unable to find phosphorus in this oil.

Such were the principal analytical results known when M. Personne presented his memoir to the Academy. The uncertainty which appeared to attach to the subject, and the {123} variations in the statements of chemists, induced him to put to himself the following questions:―

1st. Do the oils of cod and ray-liver contain iodide of potassium or iodine?

2nd. Do the different sorts of these oils contain the same proportion of iodine?

3rd. Do these oils contain phosphorus, to which their effects may be partly attributed?

For detecting the presence of the iodine, M. Personne saponified the oil with an excess of caustic potassa, incinerated the soap, and treated the product of incineration with strong alcohol. The alcohol was evaporated, the residue dissolved in water, and to this, solution of starch and sulphuric acid were added. The quantity of iodine was estimated by the intensity of the color; it is too small to be estimated by the balance.

Mr. Personne examined in this way the dark brown and thick cod-liver oil, such as is employed in the hospitals of Paris; the transparent and nearly colorless oil of English commerce; and the ray-liver oil prepared by the direct action of a moderate heat, and subsequent filtration. The following are the results:―

1st. The brown cod-liver oil of the hospitals of Paris contains more iodine than the fine white oil of English commerce.

2nd. It also contains more iodine than the ray-liver oil, and, moreover, the quantity present is certainly less than a decigramme of iodine in a kilogramme of oil (1 in 10,000.)

3rd. The residue of the liver, left after the preparation of the oil, contains much more iodine than the oil itself.

With regard to the question as to whether the iodine exists in cod-liver oil in the state of iodide of potassium, or directly combined with the oil, M. Personne, while he admits the difficulty of satisfactorily determining the point, inclines to favor the opinion that the iodine is directly combined with the elements of the oil.

[The different methods which have been suggested for the preparation of the ioduretted oil proposed as a substitute for {124} cod-liver oil are described. A discussion follows of the claims of the authors, whose communications were submitted to the commissioners, for having first introduced the artificial ioduretted oil, which discussion is also omitted here as being uninteresting to our readers. The commissioners next proceed to state the result of the evidence obtained, by the medical members of the commission, of the therapeutical action of the artificial ioduretted oil.]

M. Gibert administered the ioduretted oil for periods varying from several weeks to several months, to patients suffering with eruptive complaints and scrofulous tumors; and, in some instances, found the benefit to be greater than from the use of cod-liver oil, under similar circumstances. He states, that he does not think he has tried it in a sufficient number of cases, and for a sufficient length of time, to enable him to state decidedly what its absolute value is as a specific for eruptive and scrofulous complaints; but the results he has obtained are sufficient to prove, that it is easy of administration and devoid of any injurious quality, and that it possesses a resolutive action, which renders it a valuable remedy for certain chronic eruptions and glandular swellings.

M. Ricord has employed the ioduretted oil for twelve months, in a great number of cases of scrofula, some of which were considered to be of venereal origin. He thus obtained excellent results in the treatment of strumous bubo, tubercular epididymis, and in some cases of scrofulous enlargement of the joints, etc., and other things being equal, curable cases were cured, or relief afforded, much more quickly by the use of the artificial ioduretted oil than by the natural cod-liver oil.

The average dose in which the ioduretted oil was administered was sixty grammes (℥ij.), which was sometimes raised to 100 grammes (℥iiiss.) The patient generally took it without inconvenience. It was only in a few instances, where the dose had been raised, that vomiting, colic, and diarrhœa were produced. If the precautions which are necessary in the administration of every remedy be observed, and the degrees of {125} susceptibility of the patients, together with all special conditions, properly studied, it may be affirmed that the ioduretted oil is a medicine of great value and that it presents considerable advantage over the cod-liver oil.—_Journal de Pharmacie, in Pharmaceutic Journal._

EDITORIAL.

INTERNAL USE OF ATROPINE.

ABRIDGED FROM THE JANUARY NUMBER OF THE LONDON JOURNAL OF MEDICINE.

In the practice of English and American physicians, atropine (atropia) has been hitherto used chiefly as an external application, to dilate the pupil, but, as far as we know, has never been administered internally. In France, the powdered belladonna root has been strongly recommended as affording a reliable and efficient preparation; in this country, the leaves and the extracts and tincture derived from them are alone officinal. Dr. Lusanna, an Italian physician, has ventured upon the internal use of atropia, and, according to our notions, in very large doses. He commences its administration in doses of one-thirtieth of a grain every three or four hours, gradually increasing the dose according to the effect produced. In some instances he went so far as to give one-third of a grain five times a day.

It may be given, according to Dr. L, in solution in alcohol, or in acetic or some other mild acid. Pills and powders, from the difficulty of apportioning the dose he deems unadvisable. The alcoholic solution has a taste somewhat like that of quinine, but feebler, and not particularly disagreeable. The patient soon becomes habituated to the remedy, and the dose has to be increased. In cases of neuralgia he recommends the application of one-fourteenth to one sixth of a grain to a blistered surface, in the form of pomade. Dr. L. carries the administration of atropia so far as to produce what we would call its toxicological effects.

1st. _Dilatation and immobility of the pupil._ Between fourteen and fifteen minutes after the exhibition of from one-twenty-fourth to one-thirtieth of a grain of atropia, the pupil becomes enormously dilated. If the remedy be persevered in the dilatation passes of, but the iris becomes immoveable, and the pupil no longer contracts on exposure to light. When the remedy is stopped, as the other phenomena produced by its exhibition subside, the pupil again becomes extremely dilated. Previous to this it commences to oscillate, contracting slightly when exposed to strong light, and dilating again in the shade. This indicates that the {126} effects of the remedy are disappearing. The dilatation of the pupil is the last of the phenomena to subside, being sometimes met with eight days, or more after the suspension of the atropia.

2. _Disturbance of vision._ Objects at first seem hazy and ill-defined, persons are not recognized, and it is impossible to read or write. If the dose be increased, objects seem covered with a dark shade, and vision may be wholly lost. Every fresh dose has a sudden and marked effect in diminishing vision, and on its suspension the disturbance of vision disappears with equal rapidity. In one or two days the sight is perfectly restored.

3. _Disturbance of Intellect._ At first the patient appears dull and stupid, then there is vertigo and confusion of ideas.

4. _Hallucinations of sight and hearing._ Objects are seen double or greatly magnified; motes and insects flit before the eyes; well known objects assume strange and monstrous forms, or horrible phantoms are seen. The hearing is more rarely affected. Buzzing, tinkling, hissing and whistling are sometimes heard.

5. _Anaesthesia._ Touch remains apparently perfect, but pain is relieved or blunted. The patient does not seem to suffer from painful tactile impressions.

6. _Dryness of the mouth and throat_ were invariably felt. At first this seemed a purely nervous phenomenon, but if the medication was continued, from the diminution of the salivary secretion it became real.

7. _The appetite_ is early lost, and there is no thirst; but on the cessation of the remedy it returns sharper than ever. Speech is early embarrassed, and the power of swallowing early diminished, becomes finally lost.

8. _Delirium_ alternating with stupor or succeeded by it, is produced by one-tenth of a grain of atropia at the commencement of the treatment, or by one-fourth of a grain later, or by any sudden increase of the dose. The delirium is commonly gay and ridiculous; in one instance only was it mournful. When these phenomena are at all intense, they subside slowly. For several days after the cessation of the medicine, there is confusion and slowness of thought.

9. _Redness of the skin_ was observed in but a single case.

10. _Torpor and paralytic tremblings._ As the patient gets under the influence of the atropia, the legs become weak and trembling, gradually lose their strength, and he is confined to bed. They may be still agitated by twitching, and convulsive movements.

11. _Paralysis of the sphincters of the rectum and bladder._ This is the highest point to which, according to Dr. L., the medicative action of atropia can attain. In one case, only, the fæces and urine were passed involuntarily.

The functions of respiration, circulation, and calorification, were never affected by atropia.

After this long catalogue of serious symptoms, Dr. Lusanna rather naively observes, he has never seen any truly alarming results arise from the use of atropia! Should they occur, he recommends wine as the best antidote.

{127}

CULTIVATION OF OPIUM.—In a late number of the Archives Generales de Medicine, will be found a short notice of a paper, read by M. Aubergier, to the French Academy of Science upon the cultivation of native opium. When the juice is obtained according to the methods described by M. A., the seeds continue to ripen, and the oil they yield pays the expense of cultivation. If the opium then more than repays the expense of the labor necessary to procure it, its production will be a source of profit. Now M. A., by successive improvements in his processes, has been enabled to raise the amount obtained by each laborer from a maximum of 75 to 90 grammes (1157 1/2 grs. to 1389 grs.) to five times that quantity. The commercial value of the opium will always, therefore, more than repay the cost of manufacture. He farther finds that the proportion of morphia contained in the opium varies. 1st, with the maturity of the capsules from which it is collected, opium collected from capsules nearly ripe yielding less morphia than that obtained from those that are not so near their maturity. 2d, different varieties of the poppy yield an opium varying in the quantity of contained morphia from 15 to 17.833 per cent. Twenty specimens of foreign opium examined by M. A. yielded quantities varying from 2.64 to 13 per cent.

The superiority of some specimens of European opium has been noticed by previous observers, and depends probably on the greater care bestowed on its preparation and on the cultivation of the plant.

CHROMIC ACID AS AN ESCHAROTIC. Chromic acid has lately been employed in Germany, both in concentrated solution and in substance, as an escharotic. The advantages it possesses are, that it is efficient, manageable, and less painful than the more ordinary applications. The concentrated solution is applied by means of a glass rod, a pencil made of asbestos, or if necessary, an ordinary hair pencil, which, if washed immediately, can be used a second time. The solid chromic acid on account of its penetrating action has to be employed with much care. All organic compounds are first oxydised and then dissolved in an excess of the acid, and this change is accelerated by an elevated temperature. Smaller animals, birds, mice, &c., were so completely dissolved by the acid within fifteen or twenty minutes, that no trace of their bones, skin, hair, claws, or teeth could be discovered. It would thus appear to be not only a gentle and gradual escharotic, but also a complete and rapid solvent. _Dublin Quarterly Jour. of Med. Science, from Wiener Medizinische Wochenschrift_, 1851, No. viii.

PUBLIC HYGEINE. M. M. Bicourt & A. Chevalier have presented a memorial on the diseases which attack workmen engaged in the manufacture of chromsate of potash. The result of the facts presented in their memorial, proves, 1st. That workmen engaged in the preparation of bi-chromsate of potash, are subject to peculiar diseases. 2d. These diseases attack workmen who do not take snuff, and the mucous membrane of the nose is destroyed. 3d. Workmen who take snuff do not experience the same diseases. 4th. Workmen whose skin is broken {128} in any part, suffer severely when the bi-chromsate comes in contact with the abraded surface, and should, therefore, carefully preserve the abrasions from contact with the solution of bi-chromsate. 5th. Workmen lightly clothed are exposed to some inconveniences, but these may be easily avoided. 6th. Animals are, like men, exposed to maladies caused by the bi-chromsate of potash.—_Archives Generales de Medicine._

CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY; or Chemistry applied to Arts and to Manufactures, by Dr. T. Knapp, Professor at the University of Giesen; Dr. Edmund Ronalds, Professor of Chemistry at Queen’s College, Galway; and Dr. Thomas Richardson, of New Castle on Tyne. Illustrated with nine engravings and one hundred and twenty-nine wood cuts. Vol. iii. London: HYPPOLYTE BAILLIERE, 219 Regent street, and 209 Broadway, New York.

Knapp’s Technology belongs to a class of books characteristic of the present day, and of the highest and most extended usefulness. Giving the practical details of the arts in connection with the scientific principles on which they are founded, it extends the views of the manufacturer and the economist, and places him on the right path for further improvement. To the American it presents the further advantage of ample and precise details of what is being done in Great Britain and on the Continent of Europe. All engaged in pursuits with which chemistry has any connection (and with what is it not now connected?) will find in the various volumes of the Technology, valuable information in regard to their own peculiar avocations, while the variety of its information and the copiousness of its illustrations, gives it a high interest to the general reader.

* * * * *

At a meeting of the College of Pharmacy of the city of New York, held on Thursday, 25th of March, the following gentlemen were elected officers for the ensuing year.

GEO. D. COGGESHALL, _President_. JOHN H. CURRIE, _1st Vice President_. WILLIAM L. RUSHTON, _2d Vice President_. OLIVER HULL, _3d Vice President_. JAMES S. ASPINWALL, _Treasurer_. B. W. BULL, _Secretary_.

TRUSTEES.

WM. J OLLIFFE, JOHN MEAKIN, THOMAS B. MERRICK, EUGENE DUPREY, R. J. DAVIES, JUNIUS GRIDLEY, WM. HEGEMAN, GEORGE WILSON, THOMAS T. GREEN.

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NEW YORK

JOURNAL OF PHARMACY.

MAY, 1852.

NOTES IN PHARMACY, No. 2.

BY BENJAMIN CANAVAN.

TINCT. FERRI AETHEREA.—At the instance of one of our physicians, I made some of the above preparation for a lady patient of his, who, after having used the other preparations of Iron “ad nauseam,” had taken it with benefit in Europe under the name of “Bestucheff’s tincture,” as which, it at one time enjoyed great popularity, so that a very large sum was given to the author in purchase of it by the Czarina Catharine. After the composition became known it fell into disuse, almost justifying us in reversing the quotation from Celsus,―

“Morbos autem, non remediis, sed verbis curari.”

It presents the metal in a different chemical state from what it is in the muriated tincture, viz: a very soluble deuto chloride; no acid is present and there are besides the anodyne and anti-spasmodic properties of the ethereal spirit, rendering it peculiarly appropriate in hysterical affections; and being pleasant to the taste and miscible with water, it is not at all repulsive.—Supposing it may prove useful elsewhere and to others, I subjoin the formula I have used, and to which I give the preference, as being the most complete. It is original in the Austrian Pharmacopœia of 1820, whence it has been copied into many French formularies, under the name of “teinture étherée de {130} chlorure de fer,” and may be found with a number of other formulæ for the same preparation in the _“Pharmocopée Unverselle” of Jourdan_.

℞ Acidi hydro chlorici ℥iv. Acidi hydro nitrici ℥i. Limatura. Ferriqs. saturare acida.

Add the iron filings _very gradually_, and in small quantity at a time to the acids mixed together, in a porcelain mortar of ten or twelve inch diameter, and allow each portion to be dissolved before another is added, and so proceed until saturation is complete. Decant; evaporate to dryness in a sand bath; dissolve the residue in a quantity of water equal in weight to itself, and to each ounce of this solution add six ounces of sulphuric ether, agitate them well together and separate the supernatant ethereal solution, to which add four times its bulk of alcohol; finally, expose it to the action of the sun’s rays until the color is altogether discharged. The dose is twenty to thirty drops.

MUCILAGO (GUMMI) ACACLÆ.—Among the many useful hints which have appeared in the New York Journal of Pharmacy, in relation to several formulæ of the U. S. P., I perceive the preparation mucilage of gum arabic has been deemed worthy of a supervisory notice, and having experienced some annoyance with regard to it, arising simply from the fact that the officinal preparation has been heretofore entirely overlooked by apothecaries generally, each one instituting a formula for himself, I have been very much gratified by the result of adhering strictly to the formula of the Pharmacopœia, and would take the liberty to say that as the formulæ of all the Pharmacopœias of countries wherein our language is spoken are alike, it surely would not be productive of any advantage to introduce an exception to this conformity, to suit a local peculiarity, arising, to say the least, from inadvertence. Besides the thickness of the officinal mucilage is not much greater than that of syrup of gum, and is even absolutely necessary for the _chief proposes_ for which it is intended or prescribed, viz: the suspension of weighty metallic {131} oxydes, &c., and the holding balsams, oils, &c., in mixtures,—much benefit then would, so far as my experience goes, accrue from the apothecary confining himself strictly to the officinal mucilage, and as individual formulæ are based upon it, the re-compounding them from transcribed versions would be rendered more accurate. This “whittling” away of standards, to make them correspond to the shortcomings of negligence or parsimony, has only the effect of rendering “confusion worse confounded.”

MISTURA AMYGDALARUM.—Being a work of some hour or so’s duration to prepare the almond emulsion ab initio, it has been usual to keep the ingredients in the form of paste, from a proportionate quantity of which the mixture is made when required. The paste does not keep, becoming musty and sometimes exceedingly hard. I have therefore adopted the plan of keeping the almonds already _bleached and well dried_, in which state they do not undergo any change and thus is made all the preparation that can be, to expedite the process.

LIQ. ARSENIT. POTASS.—On taking up, the other day, a shop bottle in which Fowler’s solution had been kept for some half a score or dozen of years, I perceived it to exhale a strong garlicky odor characteristic of free metallic arsenic. On examining the bottle which is of the ordinary flint glass, the inner surface presented the appearance of being coated or rather corroded, and having a metallic lustre so far up as the bottle was generally occupied by the solution, and in the upper part several specks were visible, of the same character, as if they had been produced by the sublimation of the corrosive agent. The coating was not affected by any amount of friction nor by alkalies but was slowly dissolved by acetic acid, from which iodide of potassium threw down a precipitate of iodide of lead.—Deeming, therefore, the decomposition to have arisen from the lead contained in the flint glass I have since then kept the solution in green glass bottles.

{132}

LIQUOR MAGNESIÆ CITRATIS.

THOS. S. WIEGAND, PHILADELPHIA.

The attention which has been given to this article by pharmaceutists, both on account of its pleasantness and its great tendency to change, has induced me to offer the following observations.

The advantage of the plan proposed is that a perfectly satisfactory article can be furnished in five or eight minutes, thus rendering unnecessary any attempt to make the preparation permanent at the expense of its remedial value. That this is the manner in which the public are supplied, save at stores where large quantities are sold, there can be but little doubt, from the experiments of Professor Proctor of Philadelphia, detailed in the 23rd volume of the American Journal of Pharmacy, p.p. 214 and 216, which show conclusively that a permanent solution of citrate of magnesia must be a decidedly acid one.

Another method for making a soluble citrate has been devised by Dorvault, which is published in his treatise, entitled “L’officine;” but from certain difficulties in manipulation his process cannot come into very general use.

The formula offered is―

Take, of carbonate of magnesia, in powder, five drachms, boiling water five fluid ounces, throw the magnesia upon the water in a shallow vessel, when thoroughly mixed, pour five sixths of the pulp into a strong quart bottle, fitted with cork and string for tying down; then make a solution of seven and a half drachms of citric acid in two fluid ounces of water, pour it into the magnesia mixture, cork and tie down immediately; when the solution has been effected (which will require but a minute and a half, or two minutes,) empty it into a bottle capable of holding twelve fluid ounces, containing two fluid ounces of syrup of citric acid, add the remaining pulp of carbonate of magnesia, nearly fill the bottle with water, and cork instantly, {133} securing it with twine or wire; if the carbonate be of good quality it will be entirely dissolved in seven minutes.

Of course it is not intended that the carbonate of magnesia can be rubbed to powder, the water boiled, the bottles washed and fitted with strings and corks in the time above mentioned. My plan is to have the bottles prepared with their corks, strings, and syrup in advance, and to keep the carbonate of magnesia in a state of powder for this purpose.

[Continued from the March number.]

PRACTICAL HINTS.

BY A WHOLESALE DRUGGIST.

BALSAM PERU. For many years past a factitious balsam Peru has been manufactured in a neighboring city in very considerable quantities, and has entered largely into consumption; it is made by dissolving balsam tolu in alcohol. It closely resembles the true balsam, and is calculated to deceive unless subjected to a close examination. If one’s attention is particularly called to it, a smell of alcohol is perceptible. It is, however, easily tested by burning in a spoon or small cup. The factitious balsam readily ignites on the application of flame and burns, as may be supposed, with a blue flame. The true balsam ignites with much more difficulty and emits a dense black smoke, and on the application of considerable heat, the air becomes filled with small feathery flakes of lamp black. This test, together with the sensible properties of appearance, taste and smell, will enable one to determine without doubt as to its genuineness.

LAC SULPHURIS. SULPHUR PRECIPITATUM. MILK OF SULPHUR. This preparation of sulphur is made by boiling sulphur and lime in water, and after filtering, precipitating the sulphur with muriatic acid. It differs from the ordinary sulphur in being in a state of more minute division and being softer and less brittle after having been melted. {134}

When sulphuric acid is used to precipitate the sulphur, sulphate of lime is formed and cannot be separated from the precipitated sulphur by the ordinary process of washing, that salt being insoluble in water; for this reason muriatic acid should be used, as the salt thus formed, the muriate of lime or chloride of calcium is perfectly soluble and can be readily separated from the sulphur by washing.

The ordinary lac sulphuris of commerce, is prepared by the use of sulphuric acid, and in consequence is found to contain a very large proportion of sulphate of lime, or plaster of Paris.—Several specimens examined were found to consist of nearly equal parts of sulphate of lime and sulphur.

The test for the above impurity is by burning in a small cup or spoon. The sulphur burns out entirely, leaving the impurity unaltered. The exact amount of impurity may be determined by weighing the substance before and after burning, and deducting the one weight from the other.

PRECIPITATED CHALK OR CARB. LIME. It is very important that physicians should be able to obtain this preparation of a reliable quality. A preparation purporting to be the above, but in fact nothing more nor less than sulph. lime or plaster of Paris, has, in very considerable quantities entered into consumption within a year or two past. It is difficult to determine between the two from their appearance. The test, however, is very simple and consists in treating the suspected article with muriatic acid. It should dissolve perfectly with brisk effervescence, if it be in reality pure carbonate of lime. If it consists, wholly or in part, of sulphate of lime, the whole or such part remains unaffected by the acid.

Pure muriatic acid should be used, as the commercial acid frequently contains sulphuric acid, in which case a portion of sulphate of lime is formed and remains undissolved.

Magnesia is sometimes found in this preparation, but by accident generally and not by design, as the price of the magnesia offers no inducement for the adulteration.

{135}

WEIGHTS AND MEASURES.[9]

“Una fides, pondus, mensura, moneta sit una,
Et status illæsus totius orbis erit.”—BUDEUS.

“One faith, one weight, one measure and one coin,
Would soon the jarring world in friendship join.”

The confusion of Babel is felt most severely in the matter of weights and measures. Whether we consider the _number of names_ of weights and measures, the _similarity_ of names, the _discrepancy in amount_ between those of the same name, or the _irregular relations_ of those of the same denomination, we find a maze, the intricacies of which we cannot retain in our memory an hour after we have committed them to it. Sometimes, too, we find a farther discrepancy of a surprising nature; as if the authorised pint should not be the exact eighth of the authorised gallon, and so there should be two different quarts, one of two exact pints, and one of a fourth of a gallon, as well as a false gallon of eight exact pints, and a false pint of an eighth of an exact gallon.

[9] Universal Dictionary of Weights and Measures. By J. H. ALEXANDER. Baltimore. W. Menefie & Co. 158 pp. 8vo.

We cannot here trace the genealogy of this multitude; Chaos and old night are the ancestors of them all, except those now prevailing in France. A large number of them are of vegetable origin, from grains of wheat, carob beans, carat seeds, &c. The Accino, the Akey, and innumerable others seem to have had a similar origin. Most measures of length have been derived from the human form, as foot, span, fathom, nail, &c. To originate a new measure or weight has proved much easier than to preserve their uniformity when established. Here legislation has been resorted to. The arm of Henry I. was measured, and a _yard_ of the same length was deposited in the exchequer as a standard. “Thirty-two (afterwards twenty-four) grains of well dried wheat from the middle of a good ear” were to weigh a penny, twenty pence one ounce, and twelve ounces a pound. Science finally carried the matter one step further, and a yard is now 36/39.13929 part of the length of “a pendulum that {136} in a vacuum and at the level of mid-tide, under the latitude of London, shall vibrate seconds of mean time.” The metre, a measure established by science, is 1/10,000,000 part of the distance from the equator to the north pole. Measures of capacity have been still more difficult to verify, and weights, when depending upon these last, have been involved in further difficulties.—William the Conquerer, enacted that 8 pounds good wheat, 61,440 grains, make a gallon. In England now, 10 pounds of water, 70,000 grains, at 60° Fahr., make a gallon. In France a cubic decimetre of water, at maximum density, 39.2° Fahr., weighs a kilogramme.

But the impotency of law is nowhere shown more strikingly than in its attempts to destroy spurious and useless weights and measures. Thirty of these are said to be prevalent in Scotland at this day; and although Magna Charta required that there should be but one weight in all England, the assize of bread is still regulated by a pound, 16 of which = 17℔ 6 oz. avoirdupois. Still further, it may not always occur to us that English measures, dry and liquid, need translating when their works are reprinted in the United States, as much as the French measures; for the imperial gallon, used for both dry and liquid measures, differs from both our gallons. It contains 1.2006 of our liquid gallons; our dry gallon contains 1.1631 of our liquid gallons.

But it is in the _weights of the United States_ that we are more particularly interested. We will, therefore, take our leave of the rest of 5,400 and more weights and measures which Mr. Alexander has ranged in alphabetical order, from

Name. Locality. Character. Value. “Aam; _for wine_, _Amsterdam_, Liquid capacity, 41.00041 gall.” to “Zuoja _piccola_, _Udino_, Superficial, 0.8553 acres.”

Let us enquire what are the weights of the United States.—We find but one unambiguous term to measure the rest by, the grain. We have then:

1. The long ton, 15,680,000 grains. 2. The ton, 14,000,000 grains. {137} 3. The quintal, 784,000 grains, 4. The hundred weight, 700,000 grains, 5. Quarter, 196,000 grains, 6. Pound avoirdupois, 7,000 grains, 7. Pound Troy, 5,760 grains, 8. Pound Apothecaries’, 5,760 grains, 9. Ounce Troy, 480 grains, 10. Ounce Apothecaries’, 480 grains, 11. Ounce Avoirdupois, 437.5 grains, 12. Drachm Apothecaries’, 60 grains, 13. Drachm Avoirdupois, 54.6875 grains, 14. Dram of the arithmetic, 27.34375 grains, 15. Pennyweight, 24 grains, 16. Scruple, 20 grains, 17. Grain, 1 grains.

A formidable array truly! From this we see that while an ounce of cork is lighter than an ounce of gold, a pound of cork is heavier than a pound of gold! Nay, further, let the apothecary go to the druggist for a drachm of opium, and he will receive and pay for a _drachm_ avoirdupois, a weight unknown even to Mr. Alexander, although in constant use in this city. But the moment he puts it into his mortar there is not a drachm of it! If he wishes to use a drachm in pills or tincture, he must add more than five grains to it. Could anything be more inconvenient or more prolific in mistakes? To prevent butter from becoming rancid, we are told to mix with it the bark of slippery elm, in the “proportion of a drachm (or dram) to the pound.” Who can tell what it means? Six different proportions might accord with this Delphic response; the most probable is 60∶7000. But the grievance to which the apothecary is subject does not all consist in his buying by lighter ounces, and selling by heavier. The subdivisions by which he compounds have no reference to his convenience. Long habit alone can save him from either laborious calculation or risk of error. But still another chance of error comes into the account. Two characters, ʒ and ℥, are joined to numerals, to indicate {138} quantities; a mistake of these, by either prescriber or apothecary, may prove fatal. A case in point occurred a few years since, well known to many of our readers. A physician, prescribed cyanide of potassium, by a formula in which ℥ had been printed, by mistake, for ʒ. The apothecary, instead of sending him the prescription for correction, _as he ought to have done_, put it up and sent it with the fearful monition that the dose would prove fatal—and so it did—to the prescriber himself, who took the dose his patient dared not touch. He died in five minutes, a victim to a printer’s error, to his own self confidence, to want of etiquette in the apothecary, and last, not least, to an ill-contrived system of weights.