398 
PHAKMACEUTICAL MEETING. 
greatly limit its usefulness. The subject is one that merits a thorough investi¬ 
gation, for the purpose of ascertaining what method of testing commercial 
opium is best suited to the circumstances under which the test is required to be 
applied, as indicated in the Pharmacopoeia. 
Mistura ScammoniL —It has been suggested that this mixture would be im¬ 
proved by the addition of a little gum, which would contribute to hold the resin 
of scammony suspended in the liquid. 
Pix Burgundica. —Since the publication of the Pharmacopoeia, the result of 
inquiries made relative to the commercial history of Burgundy pitch has been 
published by Mr. Hanbury, from which it appears that although the spruce fir 
grows abundantly in Switzerland, there is no resinous exudation from it collected 
there at the present time for commercial purposes, and that true Burgundy 
pitch is produced in Germany, and also in Finland. The statement in the 
Pharmacopoeia that Burgundy pitch is imported from Switzerland is therefore 
incorrect. 
Bismuth and its Compounds. —A good deal of discussion has taken place with 
reference to the processes and tests described in the Pharmacopoeia for purified 
bismuth, and some of the bismuth compounds, but no material defects have 
been proved to exist in them; and although one or two of the suggestions that 
have been made are deserving of attention, no facts have been adduced that 
should cause any want of confidence in the sufficiency of the Pharmacopoeia 
processes for producing good and efficient preparations. 
The foregoing remarks relate principally to medicines which are at pre¬ 
sent included in the Pharmacopoeia. In addition to these, there are some 
medicines which claim to be noticed on account of the extent to which they are 
employed by medical men, or the value which is attached to them by those who 
have given them a trial. Attention is directed to them here for the purpose of 
raising the question as to whether they are deserving of a place in a future 
edition of the Pharmacopoeia. 
Lactic Acid appears to play so important a part in some of the processes 
occurring in the animal body, that its use in medicine will probably be extended 
as further attention is given to its therapeutic action, and to the best forms for 
its administration. 
Acetic Ether is one of the most agreeable of the compound ethers. It is a 
good solvent of cantharidine, and might, with advantage, be substituted for the 
mixture of acetic acid and ether in the preparation of liquor epispasticus. It 
would also admit of other applications in medicine. 
Chlorodine. —The medicine sold under this name is very extensively used, 
and its reputation, even among medical men, appears to be rather upon the 
increase than otherwise. Although strictly a proprietary medicine, the compo¬ 
sition of which has not been publicly avowed, it is nevertheless generally known 
to pharmaceutists what the principal ingredients in it are, and there are several 
makers of it who produce and sell under the name of chlorodine, compounds 
which nearly, although not entirely, agree in their general characters and pro¬ 
perties. Attempts which have been made to'simplify its composition have not 
hitherto resulted in the production of an equally efficacious medicine. An alco¬ 
holic solution of chloroform and acetic or other ether, with oil of peppermint, 
hydrocyanic acid, and a sgilt of morphia, appear to be the principal active in¬ 
gredients, and these are made into a syrup with some uncrystallizable sugar. 
Citrate of Magnesia. —The preparation which is very extensively sold by drug¬ 
gists under the name of granular effervescing citrate of magnesia , is not what 
its name indicates, but is merely or almost exclusively a mixture of citric and 
tartaric acids with bicarbonate of soda, corresponding to the effervescent citro- 
tartrate of soda of the Pharmacopoeia. The true citrate of magnesia is seldom 
used in this country, but on the Continent it is esteemed a valuable medicine,, 
