— 133 — 



Pharmacopoeias. 



Suggestions for the new German Pharmacopoeia, Ed. V. 



The partial insufficiency of the indications of the present German 

 Pharmacopoeia on the subject of essential oils and their examination 

 have induced H. v. Soden 1 ) to make suggestions for the projected new 

 Edition with the object of improving and enlarging the present 

 prescriptions and bringing them in accord with the present state of 

 knowledge. The expositions of v. Soden agree on the whole with 

 our own views on the matter under discussion, as expressed by us in 

 a letter to the Authorities concerned about 2 x / 2 years ago. This applies 

 especially so far as important general considerations are concerned: 

 in details we may differ to some slight extent. It would therefore be 

 superfluous on this occassion to go into details on the whole of 

 v. Soden's paper, we will rather restrict ourselves to short references 

 on matters in which there are discrepancies between v. Soden's findings 

 and our own. 



Calamus Oil. «i>: v. Soden -|- 10 to -\- 30 ; Schimmel & Co. 

 9 to +31°. 



Carvone. v. Soden: di 5 o 0,964 to 0,966; «n-]-58 to -j-oo°; 

 Schimmel & Co. : minimum limits 0,963 and-|~57° respectively. 



Cinnamic Aldehyde. di 5 o: v. Soden 1,054 to 1,056; Schim- 

 mel & Co. 1,054 to 1,058 (from observations made on material pre- 

 pared by ourselves). 



Juniper berry Oil. di 5 o: v. Soden 0,860 to 0,880; Schimmel & Co. 

 0,860 to 0,882. 



Lavender Oil. v. Soden recommends that the minimum require- 

 ment of ester content be fixed at 33 to 35% in lieu of 3O°/ as at 

 present. In our opinion there is no particular reason for this demand. 



Mustard Oil. v. Soden justly regards the incorporation of arti- 

 ficial mustard oil as necessary and he gives for this, as limits of value, 

 a sp. gr. of 1,022 to 1,024. In the case of our own preparation these 

 limits lie between 1,020 and 1,025. In order not to exclude the 

 natural oil from medicinal use it would be necessary to specify a sp. gr. 

 of from 1,014 to 1,025. 



Nutmeg Oil. « D : v . Soden +8°; Schimmel & Co. -f 7 . 



Peppermint Oil. v. Soden: diso 0,900 to 0,912; «d — 20 to 

 — 33°; gives a clear solution with 4 parts of 70 per cent, alcohol, the 

 solution remaining clear when more alcohol is added. Menthylacetate 



*) Pharm. Ztg. 54 (1909), 249. 



