October 1, 1870.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
275 
the goodness of the article depends upon its agreeableness 
as a beverage, and this again depends upon the amount 
of carbonic acid given off at the time of mixture. 
Since writing that letter I have examined several 
samples, and tabulated the results below. 
The letters A, B, C distinguish samples from three 
different makers. Those not marked are miscellaneous 
samples. 
One sample of “A,” on analysis, gave 44 per cent, of 
bicarbonate of soda, but only yielded 15 per cent, of car¬ 
bonic acid, being only two-thirds of the quantity that 
had been present originally. 
A sample of “ C ” contained 32 per cent, of bicarbonate 
of soda, and yielded 8-2 per cent, of carbonic acid, being 
only one-half the amount that must have been in combi¬ 
nation with the soda. 
Table of Analytical Results. 
No. 1 contained 12 per cent. C0 2 
2 
3 
A 4 
B 5 
6 
C 7 
B 8 
A 9 
10 
C 11 
B 12 
A 13 
B 14 
A 15 
C 16 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
9 
8 
15 
16 
12-5 
10*5 
13 
167 
9-3 
8-0 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
12-5 
14-8 
14 
15 
77 
77 
77 
77 
8-6 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
77 
The average of four samples marked A is 15’4. 
77 f0Ur 77 77 B „ 13-9. 
„ three „ ,, C „ 8’9. 
The difference between the highest and the lowest 
being double the amount of carbonic acid, and, as a con¬ 
sequence, one-half the quantity of A would make as good 
an effervescing draught as double the quantity of C,—a 
difference too great not to be perceptible. 
Mr. Groves remarked that the antiseptic properties 
attributed to cassareep were perhaps suggested by the 
little tendency to decomposition shown by the fluid from 
which it was manufactured. But this fluid contained a 
notable quantity of prussic acid, the influence of which 
in retarding fermentation was very remarkable. Of 
course cassareep would contain none of this volatile body; 
it must necessarily be dissipated during evaporation. 
Mr. Sutton (Norwich) said that the preservative pro¬ 
perties of the “ cassareep ” must be very considerable, as 
he believed it was the custom of families in Jamaica and 
other places in the West Indies, to keep a large pot of 
the prepared juice in the house, into which were thrown 
odd pieces of cooked meat, bones, etc., where they were 
preserved for almost any length of time. So long as 
they were kept under the surface no decomposition oc¬ 
curred. 
Mr. Dymond (Birmingham) protested against the Con¬ 
ference officially recognizing the application of the term 
“ citrate of magnesia of pharmacy ” (which was the title 
adopted for this paper) to this preparation, inasmuch as 
it was a complete misnomer. He had formerly objected 
to it, and thought the preparation should at most be 
termed citrate of magnesia of commerce. It was in 
reality a mixture of tartaric acid, sugar and carbonate of 
soda. He thought this Conference, as representing and 
expressing the highest aims of pharmacy, ought to main¬ 
tain a scientific purity and exactness in its nomencla¬ 
ture. 
Mr. Sumner endorsed this opinion, and thought it de¬ 
rogatory to the pharmaceutical body that the practice 
should exist; and this was not the only misnomer the 
Conference ought to denounce. Similarly improper 
names were continually creeping in from time to time. 
Mr. Abraham asked how this material was to bo 
labelled when sold ? 
Mr. Dymond replied that he always labelled it “ ci¬ 
trate of magnesia so-called.” 
Mr. Sutton considered it should be labelled “ granu¬ 
lated tartrate of soda.” 
Mr. Williams (London) said citrate of magnesia was 
easily made, and was very pleasant tasting. For that 
purpose calcined magnesia and crystallized citric acid 
should be heated together without any addition of water. 
Under these conditions they united together, forming a 
soluble salt. 
Mr. Sumner said that he believed that King’s was a 
real citrate of magnesia. 
Mr. Abraham said he had not analysed King’s, but 
he believed that it was composed of bicarbonate of soda, 
tartaric acid, and sulphate of magnesia. 
Mr. Sutton, of Norwich, had subsequently examined 
this medicine, and found it to consist of bicarbonate of 
soda, tartaric acid, and sulphate of soda. 
Mr. Brady, whilst deprecating the use of names con¬ 
veying a wrong impression as to composition, thought 
that, t© be consistent, those who advocated an abrupt 
change in this particular case must extend their protest 
to “ seidlitz powders,” “ salt of lemons,” and a number 
of similar terms for articles in very general demand. 
Mr. Sandford (London) was glad this question of 
misnomer had been brought forward; he had always 
protested against applying definite chemical names to 
articles not having the composition thereby designated, 
and he thought it was specially the duty of this Con¬ 
ference to discountenance such practice. The evil was 
increasing; we had effervescing “ nitrate of potash,” of 
which a drachm would contain 5 grains, but what was 
the other portion of the powder P It was, too, a matter 
of importance to dispensers. Physicians sometimes pre¬ 
scribed “ effervescing citrate of potash,” for which in one 
shop ordinary “lemon and kali” would be supplied, in 
the next citrate of potash, throwing doubt into the mind 
of the patient. 
Mr. Phillips (Crewe) had been accustomed to sell 
this preparation in Paris under the name of “ granular 
effervescent aperient,” in bottles with “ citrate of mag¬ 
nesia ’ ’ stamped on them. The French Government 
would certainly prevent its sale under the false name 
commonly adopted in this country. Citrate of magnesia 
is there largely employed in doses of 40 to 60 grams as 
a saline purgative, and is known under the name of 
“ Limonade Purgative.” 
Mr. Groves confirmed the statement made by the last 
speaker as to the dose of true citrate of magnesia given 
in France being 60 grams, or about 2 ounces. If the 
alkaline citrate or tartrate were given, they underwent a 
process of combustion in the organism, and became car¬ 
bonate before elimination by the kidneys. This should 
be recollected by prescribers. 
Mr. Andrews (London) said that Mr. Albert E. Ebert, 
of Chicago, had suggested that the term “ granular effer¬ 
vescent salt” should be applied to the preparation com¬ 
monly known as “granular citrate of magnesia.” 
Mr. Umney (London) said he had never found more 
than 17 per cent, carbonic acid in the samples of citrate 
of magnesia he had examined. 
It was then moved by Mr. Dymond, seconded by Mr. 
Sutton,— 
“ That this Conference is of opinion that the term 
‘citrate of magnesia,’ as applied to the ordi¬ 
nary granulated preparation of commerce, is a 
misnomer, and should be discouraged as incon¬ 
sistent with the true interests of pharmacy; and 
seeing that a similar compound is already recog¬ 
nized by the British Pharmacopoeia of 1867 as 
‘ citro-tartrate of soda,’ this name should as ra¬ 
pidly as possible be brought into general use.” 
