96 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 30, 1870. 
weight or more of crystals of ammonium carbonate are 
added, the gas still passing; then the bottle is closed 
with a vulcanized-rubber stopper and gently agitated 
for a moment, the stopper loosened to allow of restora¬ 
tion of atmospheric pressure by an outrush of the en¬ 
closed air, and then tightly inserted again and secured 
by string; the bottle is then placed where it will be ex¬ 
posed to a temperature of 20° to 25°, and is occasionally 
agitated. In thirty or forty hours the ammonia solution 
will have dissolved about half its weight of ammonium 
carbonate, if so much or more has been added. In any 
case, though the solvent action of the liquid is not ex¬ 
hausted, it is well to cool the bottle again by ice, and 
pass more ammonia gas through it, at the same time 
adding, if necessary, more ammonium carbonate. On 
opening the bottle for this purpose, after it has been 
cooled, the internal atmospheric pressure is found to be 
much less than the external pressure. The solution 
cooled in ice for hours gives either no crystals or only a 
few groups of exceedingly minute needles, which the de¬ 
tails of the preparation of the carbonate by method ( b) 
show almost certainly to be unchanged ammonium car¬ 
bonate. After the addition of the salt and the ammonia 
gas, the operation is carried on as before. On again 
cooling, after thirty or forty hours’ digestion, the same 
appearances present themselves, but a small quantity of 
minute crystals is now almost certain to appear. The 
series of operations is to be repeated as many times as 
are necessary for the solution when cooled by ice, or 
better by exposure to the sky on a frosty night, to yield 
the carbamate. When this point is reached, the carba¬ 
mate appears in the form of beautiful large crystals and 
crystalline masses along with a few of the minute crys¬ 
tals. If the presence of the crystals be disregarded, and 
the series of operations, including the addition of more 
carbonate, be again carried out, the solution, after diges- 
tion, yields, on cooling, a large batch of the carbamate. 
The other crystalline matter does not necessarily increase 
by repeating the operations, and, when it is present in 
more than a very small quantity, further digestion with 
more ammonia suffices to make it appear in less quan¬ 
tity. I have thus converted carbonate of ammonium 
into carbamate by using only half its weight of ammonia- 
water, and, after this had been done, there was no sign 
that the same solution, plus ammonia gas, would not 
have continued to carry on the change in. any quantity 
more of the carbonate. 
The solubility of ammonium carbonate in cold concen¬ 
trated ammonia-water being slight, there can be very 
little of that added left unchanged. On the other hand, 
as the carbamate is freely soluble in ammonia-water, 
much of it remains in solution. No urea could be 
detected in the solution. *The reaction is simple 
enough:— 
C 0 2 (0 H 2 ) 2 (N H 3 ) 2 - 2 0 H 2 = C 0 2 (N H 3 ) 2 . 
It may be regarded as being only an instance of the 
well-known influence of heat in resolving ammonium 
salts of. polybasic acids into the ammonium salts of the 
amic acids, the use of the ammonia in this case being to 
prevent a reversion of the change. That ammonia pre¬ 
vents the conversion of carbamate into carbonate I shall 
afterwards show. 
{To be continued .) 
DEATH FROM AN OVERDOSE OF STRYCHNIA. 
—AN INTERESTING CASE. 
BY CHARLES BULLOCK. 
_ -A- case of death, resulting from an overdose of strych¬ 
nia, occurred recently in Pennsylvania under circum¬ 
stances which render the case interesting and instructive 
to both medical practitioner and pharmaceutist. 
The patient had been labouring under an attack of 
partial paralysis, and the medical attendant directed the 
following prescription:— 
]Jo Strychnia; Muriat. . . . gr.iss 
Liq. Ferri Iodidi . . . 5yj 
Syr. Zingiberis q. s. ut ft. ffjiij. 
M. 
Sig. dose a teaspoonful. 
The whole of this prescription was used as directed, 
and the bottle returned to the druggist, by order of the 
physician, for renewal of the medicine, the dose on re¬ 
newal being increased to one and one-half teaspoonful. 
This was taken with apparent benefit to the patient, 
until the last dose, exhausting the contents of the bottle, 
was given. About an hour after, while at a meal, the 
patient complained of strange sensations, and was soon 
affected with tonic spasms, which are described by two 
medical gentlemen, who were called in, as well-marked 
results of an overdose of strychnia. Proper remedies 
were promptly used and the spasmodic action passed 
away, leaving the patient able to speak, but greatly 
prostrated, and, failing to respond to stimulants, death 
ensued in a few hours. 
The bottle which contained the medicine was produced 
before the coroner’s jury (composed of physicians and 
pharmaceutists). It appeared to have been drained of 
its contents to make up the last dose; adhering to the 
bottle were well-formed crystals, some of them about a 
line in length, and one-fourth line in thickness. Unfor¬ 
tunately no chemical examination was made to determine 
whether the crystals w r ere undissolved muriate of strych¬ 
nia or iodide of strychnia. A microscopical examination 
failed to carry much weight, on account of the destruc¬ 
tion of the form of the crystal by washing previous to 
mounting, the size of the crystal not being accepted in 
evidence, as crystals of iodide of strychnia were shown 
nearly as large, made by simple deposition from a warm 
saturated solution. 
The pharmaceutist by whom the prescription was 
compounded testified, “ that he weighed out the muriate 
of strychnia, threw it into a graduated measure, added 
the two other ingredients, and stirred them up with a 
bone spatula until he thought the strychnia had all dis¬ 
solved, as he could see no undissolved crystals or solid 
matter.” To a question, he replied that he noticed an 
opalescent appearance, resembling a quinine mixture. 
An inmate of the house with deceased testified, “that 
she was sure that the bottle of medicine was never 
shaken.” 
The prescription as above given had been sent to 
several prominent pharmaceutists, and the compound¬ 
ings criticized by the jury. In some no chemical change 
was discernible, in others crystals readily recognizable 
as iodide of strychnia were floating through the mixture 
and deposited in the bottom of the bottle. In one case 
large crystals were contained in the bottle, evidently of 
the original strychnia salt undissolved. 
The jury, after weighing all the evidence, returned a 
verdict of “ Death from prostration, following the acci¬ 
dental administration of an overdose of strychnia. 
“ The jury further find, from examination of the 
assistant pharmaceutist, by whom the prescription was 
compounded, a want of proper attention to, or informa¬ 
tion in manipulation, which they cannot pass without 
notice and reprimand, as both efficiency and safety may 
depend on careful manipulating skill wdien potent reme¬ 
dies are prescribed. 
“They farther find that the ingredients of the pre¬ 
scription are subject to such chemical changes as renders 
the strychnia contained therein liable to be precipitated 
to the bottom of the bottle containing the prescription; 
and if the bottle should remain without proper agitation, 
an overdose of strychnia might result.” 
So much for the history of the case. We now wish 
to make some remarks on the chemical and pharma¬ 
ceutical character of the prescription, and throw out 
