C. U. C. p. ALUMNI lOURNAI. 



SULPHIDES IN LIME WATER. 



Jeannot Hostmann. 



N. Y, C. P. '96. 



"Why does lime water when mixed 

 with aspirin give off hydrogen sul- 

 phide?" This t|uery came to the "In- 

 formation Bureau" and for the time 

 seemed to be a real "nut" to crack. In- 

 vestigation" l)rought forth the following : 



A prescription calling for aspirin, 

 euquinine, mucilage of acacia and water 

 was presented to the pharmacist. In 

 dispensing same, not having any muci- 

 lage of acacia on hand, he used powder- 

 ed acacia and after triturating the dry 

 drugs added the required amount of 

 lime water. While triturating he no- 

 ticed an odor suggestive of hydrogen 

 sulphide. 



Quite puzzled he proceeded to mix the 

 ingredients separately, and by elimina- 

 tion traced the trouble to the mixture of 

 the aspirin with the lime water. 



When consulted I asked for samples 

 of the two ingredients used and found 

 the facts to be as above stated. Chemi- 

 cal examination of the aspirin proved it 

 to be a good sample and when mixed 

 with lime water taken from the labora- 

 tory shelf no odor of hydrogen sulphide 

 was noticeable. 



Examination of the dispenser's lime 

 water disclosed a rather peculiar im- 

 purity. Upon acidifying with hydro- 

 chloric acid hydrogen sulphide was im- 

 mediately liljerated. 



When the querist was informed of my 

 results he was both surprised and in- 

 dignant as he had prepared his lime 

 water according to official directions 

 from a standard lime. 



Having satisfied himself that my diag- 

 nosis was the correct one and I having 

 pleaded ignorance as to the possible 

 cause, he sought for the latter and found 

 it to be rather an unusual one. 



Like many other pharmacists he made 

 u.se of a two-bottle system for making 

 and storing his lime water, using rub- 

 ber tubing for syphoning. The particu- 

 lar kind of tubing, of the red variety, 

 proved to be the crux of the situation. 

 Examination showed ' that some lime 

 water, having been retained in the tub- 

 ing, appeared to be slightly discolored, 

 and when some of the tubing was placed 

 in lime water for a period of twenty- 

 four hours, not only did the latter be- 

 come contaminated with sulphide, but 

 the tubing lost its beautiful red tint due 

 to the fact that all of the antimony sul- 

 phide, with which it had been colored, 

 was found on the bottom of the beaker. 



I do not know whether all red rubber 

 tubing would act in similar manner, but 

 would suggest to pharmacists that when 

 using rubber tubing in connection with 

 their lime water containers they first 

 satisfy themselves that the former will 

 not be attacked bv the latter. 



RECIPROCITY. 



Thirty-six states are now reciprocat- 

 ing pharmacy certificates through the 

 National Association of Boards of Phar- 

 macy. 



For information and blanks address 

 H. C. Christensen. secretary X. A. P.. of 

 Ph., 450 Bowen avenue. Chicago. 111. 



