November 23, 1972.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
411 
Clje pjariMceutital Icurnal. 
Phosphorated Oil (Huile phosphoree) is a prepa¬ 
ration of the French Codex, of which the folio whig 
is the formula :— 
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 1872. 
Communications for this Journal, and boolcsfor review, etc., 
should be addressed to the Editor, 17, Bloomsbury Square. 
Instructions from Members and Associates respecting the 
transmission of the Journal should be sent to Elias Brem- 
ridge, Secretary, 17, Bloomsbury Square , W.C. 
Advertisements to Messrs. Churchill, New Burlington 
Street, London, TV. Envelopes indorsed u Pharm. Journ.” 
THE ADMINISTRATION OF PHOSPHORUS. 
That medicinal remedies are subject to the rule of 
Fashion is well known, and judging from numerous 
inquiries which have lately been made respecting 
the methods for the internal administration of phos¬ 
phorus, that substance is about to have its turn of 
more or less lasting popularity as a remedy. A short 
notice of the principal preparations wall therefore 
probably be of service. 
And first, to correct an error. A few weeks since 
Mr. S. M. Bradley, of Manchester, writing to the 
‘ British Medical Journal,’ described a case of neu¬ 
ralgia which, after having been unsuccessfully 
treated by himself with every remedy he could 
think of, w r as immediately relieved by a homoeopath 
with two drops of “mother-tincture of phosphorus.” 
Mr. Bradley —apparently misled by the fact that the 
“ mother-tinctures ” of the Homoeopathic Pharma¬ 
copoeia are usually calculated to contain all the 
soluble matter of one grain of a drug in ten minims 
of the tincture, and that saline solutions are made 
up to a strength of 1 in 10—went on to say that 
this “ mother-tincture” was “ phosphorus dissolved 
in alcohol in the proportion of 1 to 10,” a statement 
which has been reproduced hi a contemporary 
circulating among chemists and druggists, and some¬ 
times providing them with homoeopathic news. Mr. 
Bradley has since found out that in using this 
remedy, he has only been giving his patients a 
preparation containing 1 per cent, of phosphorus in¬ 
stead of 10 per cent., and he has published a cor¬ 
rection of his former statement. However, since 
many persons may see the original statement 
and not the contradiction, it will be as well to 
give the following from the Homoeopathic Pharma¬ 
copoeia, by which it will be seen that there are two 
recognized solutions of phosphorus, one in ether and 
one in absolute alcohol:— 
“ Preparation. —Trituration, using moist sugar of milk 
at first, and bruising the chips of phosphorus rather than 
rubbing them. Solution in ether, 'which, if very pure, 
will dissolve nearly 1 per cent. Solution in absolute al¬ 
cohol. When making these solutions, the phosphorus 
should be cut into small chips, and, in the case of alco¬ 
hol, at any rate, the mixture, in its bottle, with the stop¬ 
per loose, should be plunged in hot water till the phos¬ 
phorus melts, when the stopper should be made firm, 
and the melted phosphorus well shaken with the alcohol. 
The solution should be well secured in stoppered bottles 
and kept in the dark.” 
“ Phosphorus. 2 
Oil of Sweet Almonds .... 100 
“ Put the oil into a bottle which it will nearly fill, 
and introduce the phosphorus. Heat in a water-bath 
for 15 or 20 minutes, agitating briskly from time to 
time. Keep the bottle closed during the operation, ex¬ 
cept at the commencement, when a passage for the air 
inside should be made by means of a paper placed be¬ 
tween the neck of the bottle and the stopper. Let the 
solution cool and deposit, and then decant the clear oil 
into small well-stoppered phials exactly filled.” 
There is also an “ Oleum Pliosplioratum” in the new 
German Pharmacopoeia, similarly prepared, in which, 
however, the proportions are “ phosphorus, well dried, 
1; oil of almonds, 80.” The preparation should be 
“ limpidum, fumans, phosphorum reddens.” 
The subject of the solvent of phosphorus best 
suited for internal administration -was studied by 
M. Dujardin-Beaumetz in 1808.* He pointed out 
that phosphorus is soluble in sulphide of carbon, 
ether, chloroform, and oil. Of these the first, not¬ 
withstanding its great solvent power (according to 
Vogel f dissolving eighteen times its own weight of 
phosphorus without losing its fluidity) is excluded 
in consequence of its effects upon the system. Al¬ 
cohol, also, he rejected, in consequence of the small 
proportion it dissolves (according to Buchner, 1 
part in 320 cold alcohol, sp. gr. - 799). Solutions 
in ether, chloroform, and oil, were tried in the form 
of capsules, made to contain 1 milligram of phos¬ 
phorus in each. The quantity of ether required was 
found to produce injurious effects, and was quickly 
abandoned. It may be remarked here that a case 
was mentioned at the meeting of the Societe de 
Pharmacie, in April, 1870, where severe symptoms 
of poisoning followed the administration of 4 grams 
of phosphorated ether. J It is also stated by Brug- 
natelli that the ethereal solution undergoes decom¬ 
position in the course of time. Chloroform, according 
to M. Beaumetz, dissolves easily two per cent, of 
phosphorus, and, therefore, 1 milligram doses could 
be administered in capsules containing 10 centi¬ 
grams of the solution. Continued use of these cap¬ 
sules led, however, to considerable disturbance of 
the system, a result which, although at first referred 
to the phosphorus, he afterwards believed to be due 
to the chloroform. He considers the pliosphorized 
oil to be the best preparation, and as many as twelve 
or thirteen capsules of this oil have been taken daily 
by patients without inconvenience. But an objec¬ 
tion exists in the deposit of insoluble phosphorus 
which gradually forms in them; and M. Beau¬ 
metz has proposed to use phosphide of zinc, pre- 
* ‘ Gazette des Hopitaux,’30 Mai, 1868, and Journ. de 
Pliarm. et de Cliimie, viii. (1868) p. 227. 
f Neues Repert. f. Pliarm. xvii. p. 449 ; Journ. de Pliarm. 
et de Chimie, ix. (1869) p. 237. 
J Journ. de Pliarm. et de Cliimie, xi. (1870) p. 416. 
