An equal bulk of alcohol (sp. gr. 817) was now added to the clear liquor in the vial. Thirty minims of water of ammonia (sp. gr. 935) mixed with thirty minims of alcohol was then added, with agitation. The vessel was closed with a cork, and allowed to rest for (72) seventy-two hours. The crystals of morphia were then detached from the bottom of the vial, the liquor agitated, and poured at intervals upon a small tarred filter. The morphia remaining in the bottle was readily washed out by means of a small quantity of diluted alcohol, which served also to wash the morphia and filter. The morphia was then dried by a gentle heat, and weighed upon the filter. The crystals were easily removed from the filter, and were weighed again separately, to verify the accuracy of the first weighing. (With the best Swedish filter-paper there was no difference between the two weighings, but inferior paper would gain in weight in spite of the most careful washing.) The morphia was now washed upon the same filter, first with 3j. of chloroform and then with 3ss. of sulphuric ether. The loss in weight after drying, showed the quantity of narcotine present. As the latter crystallises quite distinctly from the morphia, there is no difficulty in removing it by this method. A New Laudanum. Proposed by Dr. Delioux de Savignac. (Journ. Pharm. Chim., 4th series, xv., 457.) Sydenham's Laudanum is prepared according to the following formula :— Dr. Delioux objects to the employment of crude opium, as containing more narcotine and thebaine than the extract, and further considers that the tannin contained in the cinnamon and cloves is calculated to diminish the activity of the preparation by rendering part of the alkaloids insoluble. Tincture of Thuja. M. Baltot. (Journ. Pharm. Chim., 4th series, xv., 382.) The leaves of Thuja orientalis and T. occidental s have the reputation in Belgium of curing small pox, a property which is also attributed to Sarracen in variolaris. One of the formulas employed for its administration is as follows: Macerate for ten days and filter. Dose 10 drops in water. The leaves of thuja are collected in June and July. Unguentum Hydrargyri Oxidi Rubri. E. Martin. (Amer. Journ. Pharm., xliv., 202.) The author was induced a few years ago to institute a series of experiments to obtain a permanent and reliable ointment. After many trials he became convinced that a compound of castor oil and white wax would be just what he wanted. The following is the formula he adopts: This ointment will preserve its beautiful reddish colour and proper consistence for years without change. Ung. Hydrarg. Oxidi Rubrum and Ung. Hydrarg. Nitratis. C. C. Fredigke. (Pharmacist.) The author states that ung. hydrarg. oxidi rubrum may be preserved for an indefinite length of time by keeping it beneath a layer of glycerin half an inch thick. He has found ointment so treated to have just as fine an orange chrome colour after being kept eighteen months as when first made. He says also that the ung. hydrarg. nitratis may be prevented from becoming hard by incorporating with it, while warm, one fourth of its weight of glycerin in small quantities at a time, rubbing after each addition until all the glycerin is extinguished. Ointment so prepared does not lose its fine citrine colour till after a year or more. Oleates of Mercury and Morphia. (Pharm. Journ., 3rd series, ii., 971). In a clinical lecture, recently delivered by Professor John Marshall, F.R.S., in the University College Hospital,* he drew attention to the fact that mercurial ointment, which is itself the basis of other mercurial preparations, is merely a mechanical mixture of minute globules of mercury; and said that he had long thought that if a solution of mercury in some oleaginous or unctuous medium could be employed, more immediate and satisfactory results would be obtained from the well-known therapeutical powers of this ancient remedy. In seeking for his object he first dissolved some of the perchloride of mercury in a small quantity of ether, and added to it about four times the amount of oleic acid, but found that this combination freely used on the skin produced much irritation, unless it was employed in too dilute a form to be of service as an absorbent. In Gmelin's * Reported in the Lancet, May 25th, 1872. Chemistry there is a short account of certain metallic oleates formed by double decomposition; but with this as a guide, he failed to obtain any satisfactory oleate of mercury. Mr. Frank Clowes, to whom he then referred the chemical question, soon discovered that, although the ordinary sublimed scales of red oxide of mercury were with difficulty dissolved in oleic acid, the oxide, precipitated by caustic potash or soda from a solution of the metal in nitric acid (which is a yellow impalpable powder) is, when recently made and well dried, readily soluble in oleic acid, especially when aided by a temperature of about 300° F. At Professor Marshall's request Messrs. Hopkin & Williams have since studied the subject pharmaceutically, and have succeeded in preparing oleate of mercury and certain solutions of that salt in oleic acid. The strength of the preparations made by them is indicated by the percentage of the oxide of mercury which they contain. The five per cent. solution is a perfectly clear pale yellow liquid, resembling olive oil, but thinner; the 10 per cent. solution is also fluid and perfectly clear, but as dark as linseed oil; whilst the 20 per cent. preparation is an opaque, yellowish, unctuons substance, closely resembling in appearance resin ointment, melting very readily at the temperature of the body, and forming a kind of transparent, viscid, colourless varnish when applied to the skin. The chief care to be observed in the manufacture of these solutions is not to hurry the process, and not to employ a high temperature, or the mercury will be immediately reduced. Unlike the mercurial ointment so long in vogue, which is a crude, gross, unscientific mixture, very dirty and very wasteful, because so small a proportion of its mechanically admixed mercury is but slowly absorbed, these solutions of oleate of mercury are cleanly and economical in use; and as the diffusibility or penetrating power of oleic acid is much greater than that of ordinary oils or fats, and as each one-thousandth part of even a minim of these new preparations contains its proper modicum of mercury, they are absorbed by the skin with remarkable facility, and manifest their remedial effects with great promptitude. They should not be rubbed in like ordinary liniments or embrocations, but should be merely applied with a brush, or be spread lightly over the part with one finger; otherwise they may cause cutaneous irritation, or even produce a few pustules on the skin, especially in certain persons. This result may, however, be obviated by the addition of a small quantity of olive oil, or purified lard, according as an oleaginous or an unctuous preparation is required. Any of these forms may be scented by the addition of essential oils. In employing these mercurial solutions for combating persistent inflammation of joints, Professor Marshall soon found that the addition of morphia was of very great advantage. For this purpose the simple alkaloid must be used, as neither the hydrochlorate, the acetate, nor the meconate is soluble in oleic acid. For every drachm of the solution of oleate of mercury in oleic acid one grain of morphia may be added. Being, as well as the mercury, completely dissolved, it quite as rapidly penetrates the skin, comes quickly into contact with the extremities of the nerves, and thus, even within a few minutes, acts upon them at their most sensitive points, and speedily produces a soothing effect. The oleates of mercury and morphia, thus united in one preparation, represent, as it were, a liniment, ointment, or plaster, of mercury and opium; but they are far more elegant, economical, and efficacious. On the Solution of Metals in Fats by the Aid of Benzoates. M. Godin. (Journ. Pharm. Chim., 4th series, xv., 307.) M. Ricker, in 1867, recommended the introduction of iron into cod-liver oil, by dissolving in it iron soap; and M. Méhu, in 1860, proposed to replace the ferruginous soap by benzoate of iron. M. Godin has assured himself by new experiments of the solubility of metallic benzoates in the fixed oils, and recommends this form for the administration of iron, mercury, etc. The Turbidity of Vinum Colchici. M. Vulpius. (Pharm. Centralhalle, xiii., 83.) In turbid colchicum wine are to be found innumerable yeast cells, measuring seldom more than 5 micromillimetres, and hanging together in bead-like groups of two and three, or at most five. They are without doubt the product of a kind of after-fermentation which occurs in the digesting of the wine with the colchicum seeds, and is caused by the nitrogen contained in the latter, which facilitates the increase of these cells. On account of their extreme smallness, these formations pass through the filter and continue to develope themselves until they find no further material for the construction of the cell-membrane. They can only be excluded by blocking up as much as possible the pores of the filter paper; this is best done by shaking the turbid. vinum colchici with fine pulvis semin. colchici, about 1 grm. to 1000, and then immediately passing it 4 or 5 times through the same filter. Colchicum wine thus treated has never in the author's experience become turbid a second time, and showed, even after some months, no trace of organic formations under the microscope. On Liebig's Food for Infants. (Archiv. der Pharm., cxcix., 214, 1872.) Having used this food with the greatest success in the case of two children, who were born perfectly healthy, but who from the neglect of nurses and insufficiency of food became ill, and suffered for some weeks with eruptions, etc., the author communicates the following. According to Liebig's first receipt, malt meal was recommended; but since then he has advised that the malt should be ground in a coffee mill, and the meal rubbed through a hair sieve to free it from the husks. I have always used the malt in the rough state as it is used for the beverages, and without any preparation, husks and all, only increasing the quantity 20 per cent. on account of the husks. The digestion has been carried on in a water-bath with an immersed thermometer, which must never rise above 70° C. or sink below 60° C., and continual stirring maintained. The straining was performed through a fine broth sieve of white iron (or white metal) without any pressure, and the residue again stirred round with water and strained, and again washed out with a little water. The thus diluted food was found very nourishing to children, while the concentrated food did not agree with them so well. I came in this way to the following distinct recipe:— B Of Bicarbonate of Potash Milk 2 grms. 64 equally stirred, in a water-bath, brought to a temperature of 64°-66° C., and kept in it for or of an hour with continual stirring, afterwards brought to a boil and strained, the residue stirred round with water, again strained, and by once more washing out with water the entire product brought to 1 litre. The well mixed liquid is first allowed to settle for a short time, and then put into bottles of the size required for one meal for the child. The rest is boiled up again or thrown away. The bottles should be kept in a cellar till required for use. In warm weather the food will not keep more than 1 or 14 days, but in cold weather it may be kept 2 days. The most scrupulous cleanliness is required in all the vessels and bottles that are used, and the least neglect will immediately cause diarrhoea, or derangement of the stomach of the children. The great loss of time which is necessary to prepare the quantity of food required daily, has induced me to attempt to produce it in |