12 



THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



ing-values of the different cheeses wiU, 

 no doubt, solve the question of their di- 

 gestibihty. Uread and beer are colloidal 

 l)reparations which are now being in- 

 vestigated. The taste of beer depends 

 on its viscosity, due to colloids, and its 

 electrolytes. The brewing water used, 

 seems to have considerable influence up- 

 on the taste. 



Mineralogy: Most precious stones 

 owe their colors to minute quantities of 

 a colloid substance, viz., in topaz-sap- 

 phire we have colloidal cobalt oxide, in 

 ruby, chromium oxide. The opal is a 

 "gel." 



Metals: Steel is a system: Iron- 

 Carbon-Iron Carbide. Tungsten fila- 

 ments were made by pressing tungsten 

 together with dextrin or syrup through 

 small openings into wire form. The fila- 

 ment was then subjected to high heat to 

 carbonize the organic material. Kuzel 

 has improved this method by preparing 

 a "tungsten-gel" by alternate action of 

 acid and alkaH upon finely powdered 

 tungsten. This is pressed into filaments 

 and gives splendid results in the Tung- 

 sten lamp. 



Dyeing and tanning are purely col- 

 loidal processes and our knowledge of 

 these most important subjects has been 

 considerably enriched by colloid chem- 

 istry. 



The setting of cement is a colloidal 

 process : pottery and porcelain ware are 

 colloidal substances. 



Photo-chemistry has made tremendous 

 progress since Luppo-Cramer, of Dres- 

 den, has applied colloid chemical methods 

 to its research. 



Cellulose and its preparations are col- 

 loids : Parchment paper swells in pres- 

 ence of acid, mercerized silk in sodium 

 hvdroxide. A solution of cellulose in 

 copper-ammonia solvent, is a colloidal 

 solution. Rubber is a colloidal system 

 Vulcanization is an adsorption of sul- 

 phur by rubber. 



To come nearer home : Enzyme-action 

 is a colloidal process, so are the various 

 immunity reactions, the W'assermann re- 

 action, for example. 



The urine, the blood, as well as all 

 other body fluids are colloidal solutions. 



Martin H. Fischer, of Cincinnati, has 

 made very interesting experiments on 

 the cause of oedema and finds that all 

 swellings of parts of the body are due 

 to abnormal acid production, which is 

 again a colloidal phenomenon. He also 

 finds that nephritis is caused by abnor- 

 mal productions of lactic acid, which 

 causes the kidney tissues to become soft 

 and the appearance of albumen in the 

 urine. The application of colloid-chemi- 

 cal methods has proved most fruitful in 

 explaining the causes of many physio- 

 logical phenomena, viz., muscle contrac- 

 tion, ossification, formation of gall- 

 stones, disturbances of circulation, etc. 

 Under the heading. "Importance of Col- 

 loids to Pharmacy," we must consider 

 first of all the remedies which are col- 

 loidal and are supplied by the pharmacist. 

 The first one of these was Ung. Crede, 

 which appeared in the market in 1896, 

 and from then on, and especially in the 

 last few years, colloidal remedies have 

 been put forth, one after another, so 

 that to-day we ha^'e a very large number 

 of them, and with them has come a volu- 

 minous literature of their own. French 

 physicians and pharmacists are especial- 



