716 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March S, lSI 3V 
The great object to be gained is of course to have a 
material which will stand the heat of the hand, and yet 
melt slowly but surely when introduced. Now, he thought 
nothing could be found better fitted for the purpose under 
discussion than the theobroma oil or fat, but considered 
the introduction of a certain portion of paraffin well 
worthy of a trial. 
The Proposed Appendix to the British Phar¬ 
macopoeia. 
Professor Redwood said that when he brought the 
subject of the proposed appendix to the British Phar¬ 
macopoeia before the Society at the last meeting, he had 
not the opportunity of saying as much as he otherwise 
might have said, in consequence of the lateness of the 
hour. He was very happy to find that the few observa¬ 
tions he made on that occasion had to a great extent rea¬ 
lized already what was contemplated, namely, the elicit¬ 
ing certain suggestions and remarks bearing upon the 
subject, which could not fail to be of very great value 
and assistance to those who were engaged in considering 
what additions should be made to the Pharmacopoeia 
when the reprint came out. He had given a sort of im¬ 
plied promise to make some further remarks, and had 
intended to bring before the meeting a more formal com¬ 
munication than he was now in a position to make ; but 
when it was considered that the subject had not yet 
come before the Medical Council officially, and that it 
was merely suggestive matter, it would be seen that he 
could not enter very much into detail. At the same 
time, the desire was to elicit as much information as 
possible, and especially to elicit information from those 
who were acknowledged to be most capable of giving 
information, namely, the members of the Pharmaceutical 
Society. He believed there was no body to which the 
Medical Council and all connected with them looked 
with so much confidence, for aid and assistance and guid¬ 
ance, for determining what alterations or additions 
should be made in reprinting the Pharmacopoeia, as the 
Pharmaceutical Society. He proposed to refer briefly 
to what had already been suggested for the considera¬ 
tion first of the Pharmacopoeia Committee of the Medi¬ 
cal Council, and subsequently of the Council themselves, 
when they met towards the end of this month. The 
Council had not yet determined to make any additions, but 
the Committee were in favour of such a course, and he 
had no doubt that the Council would endorse the re¬ 
commendation of the Committee in that respect. The 
question then was, what should this appendix or sup¬ 
plement consist of ? In the first place it must be ob¬ 
vious that on the present occasion they could make no 
essential alteration in any of the existing processes of the 
Pharmacopoeia. They could add to, but not alter the 
present Pharmacopoeia. Once in ten years was thought 
quite often enough for a new edition, but nevertheless 
certain additions at intermediate times might properly 
and advantageously be made. New medicines could be 
superadded to those already existing, and what was 
under consideration now was what new medicines or 
new forms of medicine it would be desirable to re¬ 
commend for insertion in the appendix. At 
the last meeting of the Society he had men¬ 
tioned a certain number of proposed additions, but 
the list had since been somewhat extended, and it 
now included the following:—Acetum ipecacuanhae, 
aether aceticus, ammoniae nitras (now so exten¬ 
sively used for the preparation of nitrous oxide), amyl 
nitris, aqua chloroformi, bismuth! oxidum, calcis hypo- 
phosphis, charta sinapis, chloral hydras, extractum gly- 
cyrrhizae liquidum, hydrargyri oxidum praecipitatum, 
liquor magnesiae citratis, oleum phosphoratum, oxymel 
ipecacuanhae, pepsina, pilula jalapae composita, pul vis 
elaterii compositus, sapo animalis, sodae hypophosphis, 
succus belladonnae, succus hyoscyami, suppositoria car- 
bolica cum sapone, suppositoria morphiae cum sapone, 
suppositoria tannica cum sapone, tinctura aurantii re- 
centis. Some of these might be thought unworthy of 
the position proposed for them, and others might be 
suggested as being of equal or greater importance; and 
it was open to the Pharmaceutical Society as well as the 
medical profession to express their opinion in reference 
to those points, and also as to the forms which should be 
adopted, and the processes which should be recommended 
or enjoined. Taking the first, acetum ipecacuanhae, a 
process had been given a short time ago by Dr. D. Duck¬ 
worth, which could not well be improved upon. With 
regard to acetic ether, he thought it was unnecessary to- 
give a detailed process for its production, and that it 
would be sufficient to express in general terms the 
method by which it was produced. He agreed with the 
spirit of the suggestion made by Dr. Symes, that there 
should be something to indicate at least the manner in 
which the various products were obtained. Next cam& 
amyl nitris, a therapeutic agent, he believed, of great' 
value, although very potent, and in some respects dan¬ 
gerous. It was most important if its use in medicine 
was to be extended that there should be some definite 
description given of it, and some means of identifying 
and testing it. Then there was aqua chloroformi. Some 
doubts were thrown upon the advisability of introducing 
another form of chloroform, but this had some strong- 
claims. It was a saturated aqueous solution, and he 
considered it one of the most agreeable and elegant of 
the aqueous menstrua that had been introduced into 
medical use, calculated to assist the action of a certain 
class of medicines, and to cover the flavour of others.. 
With regard to bismuthi oxidum, it had been suggested 
that it was scarcely required in addition to the other 
forms of bismuth ; but he thought that this would be 
more uniform and more to be relied upon with regard 
not only to its purity but also to its perfectly definite 
nature. It was suggested to be introduced not merely as 
a substitute for either of the other solid preparations of 
bismuth, but with a view to its subsequent employment 
in the preparation of liquor bismuthi itself. Then there 
was,—of course there was,—chloral hydras. It was not 
necessary to do more than describe its production in 
general terms, leaving it to the chemical manufacturer to 
carry out the details or vary them as he thought proper,, 
but putting into the hands of the pharmacist and medical 
man such tests as could not fail to indicate any of the known 
impurities or adulterations which might find their way 
into it. At the last meeting, he (Professor Redwood) 
had suggested that some liquid form of liquorice might 
be added to the appendix. He had received communica¬ 
tions from one or two gentlemen. One of them stated 
that after a good deal of experience he had come to the 
conviction that fluid extract was preferable to a syrup. 
He (Professor Redwood) agreed with that opinion, and 
he had commenced preparing a fluid extract of liquorice 
according to the instructions given in the new ‘ American 
Pharmacopoeia,’ but he soon gave up that process, con¬ 
sidering it unnecessarily prolix and troublesome, and 
that an equally good result could be obtained much more 
easily by dissolving extract of liquorice of the pharma¬ 
copoeia in a mixture of glycerine and proof spirit. It 
was suggested that in addition to the present red pre¬ 
cipitate, a precipitated oxide of mercury should be added. 
Then among the liquors, he thought a solution of citrate 
of magnesia would be desirable. The French Codex had 
had such a preparation for many years, and he had made 
some of it, though not exactly as directed in the Codex, 
nor exactly as directed in the American Pharmacopoeia, 
which had copied from the Codex, because the solutions, 
there seemed to be unnecessarily strong. It was an 
exceedingly agreeable purgative draught, and entirely 
devoid of the bitter taste which the sulphate of magnesia 
possessed. One advantage probably in introducing it 
would be that as citrate of magnesia had become so 
thoroughly established as a popular medicine, we should 
have a true citrate which might either replace the ficti¬ 
tious citrate of magnesia, or at any rate lead to the adop- 
