THE CODEX AND THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 
119 
and Lozenges ; these last are numerous, though not at all approaching the 
number as manufactured by English makers. A great deal might be written 
upon these and many of the previous chapters, but already I have extended the 
subject of the Codex too much. 
Chapters 55, 56, 57, 58 contain Especes, being mixtures of the different 
parts of plants dried, answering to the ancient term of Species in English 
pharmacy, as species Damocratis. These especes are bitter, carminative, anthel¬ 
mintic, astringent, pectoral, etc. 
Compound Powders are of a most mixed character, to wit, James’s Powder, 
dentifrices of various properties, opiate, ipecacuanha, powder for cataplasm, 
effervescing powders, and powder for the preservation of dead bodies,—in fact, 
embalming powder, with many others, forming a most heterogeneous collection. 
Pill-Masses, Pills, and Granules. —Passing over the pills, I would draw 
attention to what appears to me the danger, if not the absurdity, of playing 
at granules with such potent remedies as digitaline, arsenic, atropine, strych¬ 
nine, etc. 
Capsules are employed for a great variety of substances. 
Chapters 59, 60, and 61 are replete with various Cerates, Pomades, and 
Ointments. Cold cream is'made with the addition of a small quantity of 
simple tincture of benzoin to the usual ingredients, a probable improvement. 
There is also a form for the celebrated cucumber pomade, and there are various 
epispastic pomades. 
Chapters 62, 63, and 64.—Some of the plasters are hard and kept in rolls, 
others in pots, partaking somewhat of a character between a plaster, as under¬ 
stood in England, and an ointment. 
Sparadraps are plasters spread upon linen, calico, silk, or even paper. 
Amongst the papers are the charta epispastica of the P. B. 1867, but having- 
only about half the strength, and the pitch or poor man’s plaster. 
Chapters 65, 66, and 67 are made up of Suppositories, Prepared 
Sponges, and Cataplasms. 
Chapters 68 and 69 contain formulae for Fomentations, Lotions, In¬ 
jections, etc., and Medicated Baths, —useful, possibly, as a guide to the 
prescriber and dispenser. 
Chapters 70, 71. 72, 73, and 74 present forms for Eye Waters, Com¬ 
pounds with Glycerine, Liniments, Esciiarotics, and Fumigations. 
The compounds containing glycerine are not solutions of substances in 
glycerine as P. B., but mixtures of them with starch and glycerine. The lini¬ 
ments partake of the ordinary character of those preparations, though in some 
instances very different from those of the P. B., for opiate liniment is prepared 
with oil of almonds, powdered soap, and tincture of opium. Amongst the pre¬ 
parations employed in fumigations are ordinary pastilles, anti-asthmatic paper, 
arsenic, and belladonna cigarettes. 
Chapter 75, the last of the Pharmacopoeia, is a selection of formula? ex¬ 
tracted from various Pharmacopoeias, the P. B. amongst others. In the prepara¬ 
tions from this last the quantities are given in grammes as well as English 
weights, approximating as closely as possible where the density of compound 
liquids is not precisely known. And now, taking a short retrospective glance, 
I cannot leave the subject without stating that, with whatever faults it may 
have, the Codex is an admirable work, and merits all the interest it has created, 
even in England. 
