LEEDS CHEMISTS’ ASSOCIATION. 355 
tion and oxidation, aud preserved the gold labels uninjured. It would be cheap, be¬ 
cause an ordinary neck formed the reservoir. 
A four- or eight-ounce round shop-bottle has a short lipped tube ground in by way of 
stopper, having a notch that returns any surplus oil, and a glass cap covers all. Messrs. 
Maw and Son had supplied the specimens shown. 
Mr. Edward Brown read the paper of the evening, upon “ Medicated Waters.” 
He observed that whilst the importance attaching to various objects met with in phar¬ 
macy varied greatly, the potency of many principles claiming for them this interest, the 
class of medicated waters, on the other hand, demanded our best attention from the uni¬ 
versality of their employment. 
The title adopted embraced waters of both natural and artificial origin, as medicinal 
springs, waters aerated by art, etc., as well as the class termed Aquas in the Pharmaco¬ 
poeia. It was this latter section of the subject to which he proposed chiefly to confine 
himself. 
There were one or two allied watery solutions deserving a word. The process of the 
Pharmacopoeia for making mistura camphoroe was needlessly tedious, and without recom¬ 
mending the deviation, he believed the best plan was to use a graduated spirituous solu¬ 
tion of camphor. The U. S. Pharmacopoeia emplo} r s magnesia to subdivide the cam¬ 
phor, but the objections to this method are manifest. If spirit be objectionable, here 
is a case in which powdered silex might well be used, no more camphor being em¬ 
ployed than would dissolve. The solution might be decanted from the silex, and at 
least twenty-five per cent, more camphor could be thus dissolved than by the officinal 
process. 
A reference to the older Pharmacopoeias shows that medicated waters occupied a more 
prominent place than at present, and that the act of distillation was regarded as 
essential to their virtues. Possibly we have seen the other extreme of error in the 
liberty now given by the Pharmacopoeia to dispense with the distillation at our mere 
option. 
In the Pharm. Lond. 1077, waters are thus divided:—• 
1. Simple common distilled waters—five are from roots ; nineteen from flowers ; eighty 
from leaves and buds; eleven from fruits, and eight from animal sources. 
2. Waters in which the ingredients are macerated before distillation. It is worthy 
of remark that in neither of these long lists do we find the waters of greatest modern 
repute—cinnamon, peppermint and dill. In the Pharm. Lond. 1788, the list of distilled 
waters is hardly larger than at the present day. 
The introduction of a trace of alcohol, which in the earlier formulas was attained by 
the macerating process, in which wine, etc., was sprinkled over the ingredients, was now 
maintained as an addition after distillation. It is singular to note the pertinacity of the 
London College in adhering to this now exploded error, down to 1836. On the other 
hand, the Edinburgh College had given up its use as far back as 1774. That the addition 
of a little spirit to medicated waters generally does not preserve them, but usually re¬ 
sults in the formation of acetic acid, is now well recognized. 
Mr. Brown alluded to the substitution of spring water for pure distilled water in 
dispensing, and pointed out that a difference so perceptible in the act of washing the 
hands must be more than a trifle as affecting many uses for an invalid. 
Of the nine waters in the Pharm. Lond. 1851, two are ordered to be distilled, and the 
preparation of the remaining seven is left to the option of the dispenser to distil, or to 
prepare by means of an essential oil. 
Was it really a perfectly indifferent point ? This suggested another question, viz. 
are any constituents of plants carried over during distillation besides the essential oils ? 
He thought that with dill water a trace of benzoic acid was so obtained; but the 
whole question was a difficult one, in which the senses of taste and smell must chiefly 
decide, and he thought they did this very strongly in favour of the distilled dill-water. 
Cinnamon water came under the same category. Pimento water was less improved by 
distillation. 
The three waters obtained from species of mint gave a different result, and the diffused 
oils yielded better products than when the herbs were distilled. 
Was previous maceration of the ingredients desirable? Mr. Brown advised it strongly 
for a period of twenty-four hours in the case of dill and cinnamon, the product being 
fuller-flavoured. In this respect the old instructions were worth attention. 
