60 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 20, 1872. 
When Ought a Grain Dose of Morphia to be 
Dispensed ? 
Referring to tlie Morecambe poisoning case, and your 
leader of last week, I cannot but think, looking at the mat¬ 
ter from a dispenser’s point of "view, that there was at the 
inquest, as there often is in these cases, an inclination, to 
saddle the wrong horse. Since the publication of the prescrip¬ 
tion we can judge the case more clearly. According to its 
strict grammatical construction, it is ambiguous. Anglicized, 
it reads thus: “ Take of acetate of morphia, one grain. 
Let six pills be made;” not necessarily of it , but it may be 
read like it. Edmondson, who knew the dose well enough it 
appears, would never have read the latter but for the con¬ 
fusing—to him corroborating—verbal instructions. 
In my own experience, the following case occurred. A 
lady, whom wo were well acquainted with as a customer, 
brought a prescription which v r as handed to me to dispense. 
On it were a bromide of potassium mixture, and the follow¬ 
ing formula for pills :— 
“R. Morphioe Muriat.gr. j 
Cons. Rosse q. s. 
M. ft. pil. Mitte iv. 
O ae to be taken at any time if in much pain.” 
This was quite explicit; but as the dose was unusual, I 
hesitated and consulted my confrere, and also our employer. 
The lady had been taking a “ sedative mixture ’ occasionally- 
containing liquor opii sedativus, in ordinary doses. She had 
brought the prescription herself, and did not appear to be 
suffering at the time. We knew the prescribe!-, who was 
always most accurate in his prescriptions ; but on that occa¬ 
sion I was under the impression he intended to have ordered 
the pills to contain a quarter of a grain of the morphia salt. 
However, it -was ruled otherwise, and I dispensed it, having 
a witness to the weighing and division of the pills. I felt a 
little anxious about them till the next morning, when the 
lady came again and said she had taken one ot the pills on 
retiring to rest, but it had not relieved her. I may state I 
was then in the habit of preparing weekly six dozen powders, 
each containing two grains of acetate of morphia, for a 
patient, who continued to take this quantity tor years. The 
moral I draw from the case is not so much against verbal 
instructions as for explicit written ones. 
Wm. Martindale. 
University Colleqe Hospital, TJ .C., 
Jtdg lltli, 1872. 
Dr. Mackenzie’s Throat Hospital Pharmacopoeia. 
Sir.—I notice that, in your review (in to-day’s Journal) of 
Dr. Morell Mackenzie’s valuable Throat Hospital Pharma¬ 
copoeia, you take exception to the use of magnesia, in the 
composition of the concentrated preparations ot essential oils, 
a teaspoonful of which is directed to be used (in a pint ot 
water) for an inhalation. 
You say, “The magnesia is added to keep the oil mecha¬ 
nically subdivided, but we think its use is chemically objec¬ 
tionable. Most volatile oils have an acid reaction, and there¬ 
fore form compounds which are not volatile. ’ 
Permit me, therefore, to suggest a method of preparation 
which will obviate this inconvenience : although the method is 
incompatible with the advantages of the concentrated method 
of dispensing described in the Throat Pharmacopoeia. 
I notice in this Pharmacopoeia, a copy of which I have 
before me, that the solutions of the essential oils when pre¬ 
pared for actual use by the admixture of a drachm of con¬ 
centrated liquid with 'a pint of water are, at least in most, 
and possibly in all, of the examples given, not too strong for 
the method I propose, which is simply this:— 
Put the quantity of oil directed for the inhalation into the 
pint of water, shake it up for a minute and repeat the shak¬ 
ing three or four times at intervals of half an hour. Then 
filter. I 
This is a method which I have long had in use at the 
British Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, as an economical 
and effective mode of preparing Aqua Menth. Pip. and other j 
similar preparations. Previous to its introduction we had 
been in the habit of purchasing the various aromatic waters 
ready-made; and I find that it is the usual practice of phar¬ 
maceutical chemists either to purchase such articles ot the 
wholesale chemist at a very unnecessary expense, or to pre¬ 
pare them themselves by the equally unnecessary and trouble¬ 
some process of distillation directed by the British Pharma- 
| copoeia. Such preparations are so largely used, and if 
bought are so bulky in proportion to their value, and ren¬ 
dered so additionally expensive by the item of carriage, that 
a process by which they may be by far more economically pre¬ 
pared than by the usual way, cannot, I think, but prove of 
some interest to your readers. 
Balmanno-Squire. 
July 6th, 1872. 
This plan might be convenient in the preparation of 
waters for hospital use; but when they are required for the 
public, a far more pleasant and satisfactory article is produced 
by distillation.— Ed. Pharm. Journ.] 
Pharmaceutical Curiosities of Medical 
Practitioners. 
Sir,—I am heartily glad your correspondent from ‘the 
vicinity of the Valley of the Clyde’ ventilates some of the 
grievances we have to contend with in this part of the country j 
but I am sorry he did not say a few words about another 
matter which is in much need of reform, viz., prices. For 
the benefit of my Southern brethi-en I will give a few of the 
prices charged at one of the principal establishments in Glas¬ 
gow :—a 12 oz. bottle of Genuine Newfoundland Cod-liver 
Oil,Is.; 1 oz.Ponderous Calcined Magnesia, 4i.; lib. Bishop’s 
Citrate of Magnesia, 3s.; 1 doz. Compound Rhubarb Pills, 2 cl., 
and so on at corresponding rates. 
But, my inducement to write to you at present was because 
a prescription I have just received corroborates some ot the 
statements made by your correspondent. The following is a. 
copy of the prescription :— 
R. Acid Tonic No. 1. 
and on the back of the prescription is lithographed the name 
and address of a firm having retail shops, but also doing a 
large wholesale business. “ iEgis” remarks that “I have long 
since come to the conclusion that the medical profession are 
not so much to blame in this matter as a certain unprincipled 
class of our own brethren in the trade.” I believe this to be 
true; but to me the curiosity has always been not so much 
why cer'ain firms openly practise this mode of doing business, 
as that the retail chemists by patronizing such firms give a 
tacit support to the principle. 
The only solution I can find is that pease meal, brose, and 
porridge are articles of diet in common use, can be got cheap, 
and in this climate are sufficient to keep soul and body to¬ 
gether. Glasguensis. 
W.B .—We do not know of any law prohibiting such a 
proceeding, but recommend you to apply to the Secretary ot 
the College of Surgeons. 
“A Registered Apprentice.”—We are not prepared to say 
that the present practice of allowing registered apprentices to 
attend the Lectures at half fees is one that will be long con¬ 
tinued. It was established for the special benefit of appren¬ 
tices, but has not been so extensively taken advantage of as 
might have been expected. 
“ Chemicus .”—There have been numerous articles on the 
subject in the present series of this Journal. (2) AYe are now 
aware of the existence of such a patent. 
“Alpha” is recommended to apply to the Editor of the 
‘Journal of Gas Lighting,’ Bolt Court, E.C. 
“ Senex.”— (1) Apply to the Board of Examiners. (2) 
Apply to the Secretary. 
“ Alpha .”—The information could be best obtained from 
the Secretary of the Linnean Society. 
E. Widdowson .—The terms of the additions to Schedule A, 
a 3 published in the ‘London Gazette,’ which we think admit 
of no misinterpretation, are that, among other articles, “ every 
compound containing any poison within the meaning of the 
Pharmacy Act, 1868, when prepared or sold tor the destruc¬ 
tion of vermin,” ought to be deemed a poison within. the 
meaning of that Act, and that, “ of the same,” preparations 
of strychnia “ ought to be deemed a poison in the first part 
of the Schedule A to the said Pharmacy Act, 1868.” 
Communications, Letters, etc., have been received from 
Mr. W. D. Savage, Mr. S. W. Cleaver (Shanghai), Mr. W. 
Tearle, Mr. R. W. Protheroe, Mr. R. W. Giles, Mr. H. 
Recks, Mr. S. Willson, Mr. Barnard, Mr. J. R. Jackson, Mr. 
A. H. Mason, Mr. J. Davidson. 
