16 



C. U. C. P. ALUMNI JOURNAL 



Maine's Solution. — R. B., New York. 

 — This niodification of the copper solu- 

 tions used in testings urine for glucose 

 is prepared according to Cohn's "Tests 

 and Reagent's" as follows: 



Copper sulphate 2 grammes 



Glycerin 20 " 



Potassium hydroxide 9 " 



Water 175 



Cathartic Acid Assay. — E. M. S., 

 Ohio. — According to Aweng the assay 

 of cathartic acid in senna can be per- 

 formed as follows : Upon 50 grammes 

 of cut senna leaves 50 cc. (mils) of 

 boiling water are poured and the mixture 

 is heated on a water-bath for one-half 

 hour. The infusion is then strained, and 

 is mixed with an equal volume of 96% 

 alcohol and is then filtered from the 

 precipitated mucilage. The filtrate is 

 evaporated to about 50 cc. (mils) on a 

 water-bath at 80° and is mixed with 

 200 cc. (mils) of absolute alcohol. The 

 fluid is filtered from the copious inert 

 precipitate and evaporated to dryness 

 at 105°. Aweng states that this product 

 contains two anthraquinone gluco§ides. 



Tschirch recommends that the 

 assay of senna as well as other anthra- 

 quinone drugs be performed by use 

 of his colorimetric method in which 

 the color of the purified infusion of 

 the drug treated with diluted alkali be 

 matched against a standard alkaline solu- 

 tion containing one part of emodin to 

 one million. For details of the assays 

 we refer our querist to the Aweng paper 

 (Ap. Zt. 16-1901-829) and to the article 

 by Tschirch and Hape (Arch. d. Phar. 

 238-1900-429) both of which are in the 

 College library and will be translated, if 

 desired, by the library staff at rates which 

 will be furnished on application. 



Tincture of Green Soap. — R. H., New 

 York, desired the recipe for tincture of 

 green soap of the German Pharmaco- 

 poeia. This recipe follows : 



Potassa soap 



Alcohol equal parts 



The potassa soap of the present Ger- 

 man Pharmacopoeia is a linseed oil soap 

 of about the same composition as the 

 soft soap of the United States Pharma- 

 copoeia. Hebra's original tincture of 

 green soap was prepared from a rape 

 seed oil soap and the recipe, according 

 to Hager's "Handbuch der pharmaceu- 

 tischen Praxis," was as follows : 



Green soap 



Alcohol 



Spirit of lavender 



of each 35 grammes 



Toxicity of Carbon Tetrachloride. — 



J. E., New York, — In an old reference 

 to carbon tetrachloride (Proc. A. Ph. A. 

 16-1868-207) it is stated that the chem- 

 ical is more toxic than chloroform. 



Fothergill's Tonic Mixture.— R. H., 

 New York. — According to Plianna- 

 ceutical Formulas, Fothergill's Tonic 

 Mixture has the following recipe : 



Quinine sulphate 16 grains 



Diluted hydrochloric acid enough 

 Solution of strychnine (B.P.) 2 drams 

 Potassium citrate i/^ " 



Tincture of ferric chloride 5 

 Syrup I ounce 



Water enough to make 4 ounces 



Dissolve the quinine sulphate in one 

 ounce of water with the aid of diluted 

 hydrochloric acid ; then add the other in- 

 gredients in the order named. 



Solution of strychnine B. P. contains 

 I per cent, of strychnine alkaloid dis- 

 solved by the aid of hydrochloric acid. 



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