192 Dr, Hope^s Remarks on Mr. Phillips's Analysis [March, 



niacopceia directs the process to be stopped as soon as the whole 

 of it has come over. 



The consequence is, that the retort is in no hazard of being 

 broken. I have employed the same retort many times ; and in 

 fact I know no process in which a retort is less likely to suffer 

 than the one now under consideration. 



You have also said that having tried the processes of the 

 London and Edinburgh Colleges, you certainly -find that of the 

 London more easily managed. In my trials, the reverse has 

 been the case. In the London mode, in addition to the trouble 

 of filtrating, much more attention is requisite in the management 

 of the distillation. If the retort and receiver be closely luted, 

 which is often done to prevent the escape and loss of ammonia, 

 the heat must be regulated with the utmost care, else there is a 

 great risk of bursting the vessels. If they be not closely joined, 

 the loss of ammonia is considerable. The Edinburgh process is 

 not hable to inconvenience from either of these sources, and the 

 . general advantages which I have found it to possess are, that it 

 is the most economical both in regard to the quantity of the pro- 

 duct, and the time and fuel required to obtain it ; and that it is 

 managed with less trouble, without being liable to the chance of 

 . having the retort broken, either by bursting, or by any other 

 cause peculiar to the process. 



Tartras Antimomi. — The name given to this substance natu- 

 rally first excites your animadversion. Had you happened to 

 look at the preface to the Pharmacopoeia, you would have found 

 the reasons assigned by the College for deviating occasionally 

 from strict nomenclature, and abbreviating the name of some 

 compound substances, for the sake of convenience in prescrip- 

 tion, by restricting it to that of the active ingredient. The 

 -Tartras Antimonii is one example. 



There is no preparation in the Pharmacopoeia for which so 

 many and so varied formulas have been proposed as the tartras 

 antimonii ; and upon this article I shall only remark, that with 

 the aid of Dr. Duncan, jun. Professor of the Institutes of Medi- 

 cine, all the processes, lately recommended by the Colleges of 

 London and of Dublin, and by yourself, were carefully tried ; 

 and that we saw no reason for preferring any of them to the one 

 in our former edition. 



Carbonas Fcrri Pracipitatus. — As I have not lately performed 

 the process for obtaining this substance with a view of ascer- 

 taining the proper proportions, 1 shall not presume to assert that 

 in this instance also you have been unfortunate in your criticism. 

 At all events, the difference between the quantity of subcarbonate 

 of soda, ordered by the Edinburgh College, and that which you 

 commend, is so inconsiderable, that it may easily have arisen 

 from the different condition of the subcarbonate employed in 

 regard to water of crystallization. 



Acetas Ili/drargyri, — You profess to be ignorant, why the 



