January 28, 19 15] 



NATURE 



•593 



the present Pharmacopoeia as compared with eight 

 in the last. Temperatures are expressed in de- 

 crees centigrade, and the atomic weights adopted 

 are those agreed upon for 1914 by the Inter- 

 national Committee. 



When the monographs are scrutinised it is seen 

 that scarcely any have escaped alteration of some 

 kind, and that most have been notably improved. 

 The verbosity of the last Pharmacopoeia has been 

 replaced by a terseness that is sometimes almost 

 harsh. Whenever possible the monograph con- 

 tains in the first few lines a definite statement of 

 the minimum permissible percentage of pure sub- 

 stance, alkaloid, etc., and a means is given by 

 which this may be ascertained. Particular atten- 

 tion is devoted to the proportion of those dan- 

 gerous impurities, lead and arsenic, that may not 

 be exceeded. No fewer that fifty-six such lead 

 and ninety-one arsenic limits have thus been intro- 

 duced ; the methods for determining them are 

 given in the appendices, and are those originally 

 introduced by Mr. C. A. Hill and now in general 

 use in pharmaceutical laboratories. 



The monographs for the volatile oils, fixed oils, 

 fats, etc., have also undergone thorough revision. 

 In most of them the limits of specific gravity, 

 optical rotation, and refractive index are stated ; 

 determinations of acid value, saponification value, 

 iodine value, ester content, and alcohol content 

 are frequently given, in addition to~ which the 

 assay for a particular constituent, such as cineol, 

 cinnamic aldehyde, etc., is also introduced where 

 desirable. 



The monographs of crude drugs and galenical 

 preparations have undergone a similar thorough 

 revision. In the former the most conspicuous 

 change has been the extension of the microscopi- 

 cal characters ; these are fully described whenever 

 the information is important for the identification 

 of the drug, and in many cases the microscopical 

 characters of the powder are also given. The 

 principle of standardisation has been extended, 

 and the assay processes of the last Pharmacopoeia 

 have been revised in the light of recent investiga- 

 tions. 



Allusion has been already made to some of the 

 additions and alterations in the appendices. The 

 articles and reagents used in chemical testing are, 

 with few exceptions, defined as those "of the 

 British Pharmacopoeia" or "of commerce, pure." 

 Appendix xvii. consists of a list of abbreviated 

 Latin names introduced as the result of a com- 

 munication from the chairman of the United States 

 Pharmacopoeial Convention ; this is a distinctly 

 novel feature. No suggestion is made that either 

 pharmacists or physicians should employ these 

 abbreviations, and it remains to be seen whether 

 the introduction will have any practical value. 



Looking at the Pharmacopoeia as a whole, it is 

 (.\ident that the general principle on which the 

 revision has been carried out has been that of 

 substituting practical for theoretical or academical 

 standards. Many of the methods adopted have 

 alreadv been subjected to prolonged trial in phar- 

 maceutical laboratories, and the limits fixed are 



NO. 2361, VOL. 94] 



those which have been found to be practically 

 attainable. The reports that have from time to 

 time been issued show that most of the sugges- 

 tions and data for these improvements have 

 emanated from the Committee of Reference in 

 Pharmacy, and to this body full credit should be 

 given for the revision it has accomplished succcss- 

 fullv. 



SYNTHETIC DRUGS IN GREAT BRITAIN. 

 A T the commencement of the war, the sudden 

 •**■ cessation of all supplies of synthetic drugs 

 from German sources rendered it probable that 

 the stocks in hand in this country would not be 

 sufficient to meet the demand until such time as 

 the English manufacturers could adapt themselves 

 to the altered conditions. Early in September, 

 therefore, the .Admiralty asked the Imperial 

 College of Science and Technology to prepare 

 for them 30 lb. of phenacetine, 50 lb. of hexa- 

 methylenetetramine, and i^ lb. of )8-eucaine. 

 For the past five months the staff and research 

 students of the Organic Department of the 

 college have been engaged in carrying out this 

 request, with the result that the required quanti- 

 ties have now been forwarded to the Naval Hos- 

 pitals at Haslar, Chatham, and Plymouth. 



With the exception of salvarsan, which is being 

 made by Messrs. Borroughs and Wellcome, and 

 aspirin, which is now being made by Messrs. 

 Boots, Ltd., no synthetic drugs have been manu- 

 factured previously in this country. As regards 

 drugs from natural sources, however, it is prob- 

 able that English firms have always producecl 

 very much more than the German firms. 



Phenacetine is a product of the Baeyer firm at 

 Elberfeld and has never been made before in this 

 country. It is probable that all the phenacetine 

 in commerce emanates from this firm, although 

 it is understood that the immediate needs of this 

 country are now being met by the importation of 

 considerable quantities of this drug from the 

 United States of America. 



After numerous experiments, the method found 

 most suitable to the conditions prevailing in a 

 scientific laboratory was that shown by the 

 series : — 



^NHCaHjO 

 VH.CiHjO 



Aailine 



Acetanilide 



/ nitroacetanilide 



Na salt of /-oitrophenol 



/-mtrophenetole 



^nitrophenetidine 



phenacetine 



CjHjO NH 



The various operations were so arranged that 

 ultimately li lb. of pure phenacetine were pre- 

 pared daily, the by-products being recovered and 

 used again. 



Hex.amethylexetetramixe- — The preparation 



