February 18,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
GG7 
THE MICROSCOPE IN PHARMACY. 
Dr. Hale (. American Journal of Microscopy), in speak¬ 
ing of the value of the mici’oscope to the pharmacist, 
says that the deterioration to which many drugs are sub¬ 
ject by being long kept may, in a great number of in¬ 
stances, be traced to the agency of animalcula. In 
speaking of fimgi he remarks :— 
Unless the preserved substance can be kept absolutely 
free from moisture, its surface, and even its deepest in¬ 
terior, will become infected with fungi that more or less 
rapidly destroy the integrity of its tissues, until the pre¬ 
paration made therefrom is useless as a medicinal agent. 
The leaves of Atropa Belladonna , the seeds of the Conium 
maculatum , and various other powerful narcotic and 
poisonous substances are probably rendered inert by the 
destructive process set up in their interior by fungi which 
obtain access to them. 
These injurious changes are not discoverable to the 
•unaided vision. It is notorious that the most carefully 
prepared tinctures and extracts of certain drugs are 
sometimes devoid of medicinal power. It has been sup¬ 
posed that certain volatile constituents escape from the 
substances from which such tinctures are prepared; but 
of this we have no certain proof. Why is it that the 
leaves of Belladonna may in some instances be kept for 
years, and at the end of that period bo capable of yield¬ 
ing a l’eliable preparation, while other specimens, when 
kept only a few months, are worthless ? It must be 
because of some destructive process going on in the sub¬ 
stance, which cannot be discovered with the naked eve. 
In some of my experiments with the microscope, I 
have been able to detect the utter worthlessness of the 
leaves of Belladonna and Digitalis. In place of the 
healthy tissue, a mass of fungi appeared to monopolize 
the place. A thin section of the root of aconite, placed 
under a low magnifying power, has revealed the pre¬ 
sence of such a quantity of fungi as to render the speci¬ 
men worthless for the pharmacist. In other cases the 
substance of the root examined would bo found destroyed 
by some insect, which had left only the debris of the 
tissue it had digested or destroyed in its migrations. 
The pharmacist should first learn to recognize the 
natural healthy appearance, under the microscope, of all 
the vegetable substances ho works upon; then he should 
subject a specimen of every substance he prepares to a 
careful examination, and if he discovers the presence of 
vegetable or animal parasites, such substance should be 
rejected. The world is Hooded with inert medicinal 
preparations. Doubtless many such preparations are 
made worthless by improper methods of manufacture; 
but it is my opinion that in many instances their worth¬ 
lessness is due to the fact that the substances used have 
been injured by certain agencies which could have been 
discovered by the intelligent use of the microscope. 
THE DOSE OF CHLORAL HYDRATE. 
The editor of the Practitioner for February makes the 
following remarks concerning large doses of chloral hy¬ 
drate :— 
Two remarkable instances of very large doses of chloral 
hydrate being taken with only transient effect have come 
under our notice within the last two months, and, singu¬ 
larly enough, in the same house. A lady was attacked 
with acute mania; sleep could only be procured by chloral 
hydrate and a mixture was provided, of which four table¬ 
spoonfuls (containing 30 grains) were to be taken every 
night. Against the plainest orders, the attendants gave 
four times this quantity (containing 120 grains) one night. 
Continuous sleep for twelve hours followed, but no evil 
■effects occurred. Singularly enough, the husband of the 
lady was attacked with delirium tremens, and took, by mis¬ 
take, either 150 or 180 grains of chloral hydrate. He slept 
continuously for about twenty-four houi's, and even after 
this could only very gradually be roused—falling asleep 
in walking, and even on horseback. But his delirium 
tremens was cured. 
On the other hand, we must never forget that some 
patients are much more sensitive; as e.g. the patient 
mentioned by Dr. Reynolds in the Practitioner some 
time ago, who nearly died from a dose of 50 grains. It 
is never safe to commence with doses of more than 30 
grains. 
SOLUTION OF SANTONINE. 
BY JOHN HARLEY, M.D. 
In a short article in the Practitioner for February, Dr. 
Harley calls attention to the insolubility of santonine, 
which considerably impairs its utility as a vermifuge. 
Water cold or warm takes up the merest trace. Chloro¬ 
form, absolute alcohol, the strongest acetic acid, turpen¬ 
tine, hot olive oil, and hot glycerine are the only simple 
fluids that dissolve any appreciable quantity. It sepa¬ 
rates from the oil and glycerine on cooling; water added 
to the other solvents produces the same result. 
Having investigated the subject, Dr. Harley found, 
after a good deal of trouble, that a useful solution might 
be obtained by means of carbonate of soda. The follow¬ 
ing is the formula:— 
U Santonini, in pulvere, gr. xij 
Sodte Bicarbonatis gr. xx 
Aquae Dcstillatae giij. 
Put the soda and water into a flask, keep the fluid near 
the boiling-point, and add the santonine about two grains 
at a time until the whole has dissolved. Solution is 
effected in about half an hour, during which time the 
water is reduced to 5 i j, or if not, may be reduced to that 
bulk, when gj will contain a full dose—six grains of 
santonine. 
The solution is bright and permanent, strongly alkaline, 
free from odour and, except that of carbonate of soda, 
taste. Carefully neutralized with acetic acid, an equally 
bright and permanent solution is formed. Both may be 
diluted to any extent with hot or cold water without im¬ 
pairing the solution of the santonine. The whole or 
nearly the whole of the santonine is precipitated in its 
original form of colourless rectangular plates, with be¬ 
velled edges, immediately by mineral acids, and after 
some hours by excess of acetic acid. 
Mixed with acid urine, sp. g. 1017'5, containing excess 
of uric acid, and kept for several hours at 100° F., no 
turbidity is produced, unless in the case of the alkaline 
solution and an excess of phosphates in the urine, when 
a slight cloudiness may occur from the separation of the 
latter. This proves that excess of uric acid falls to cause 
a deposition of santonine. 
In cases where powders are objected to, a pleasant 
mixture may be made by adding a little syrup and fla¬ 
vouring water to the solution of santonine. 
SPIRITUS SALIS DULCIS. 
In reply to a correspondent in Newhaven, asking for 
a formula for Spiritus Salis Dulcis , as used many years 
ago, the editor of the American Journal of Pharmacy 
says:—It is a sweet spirit of (common) salt, just as 
sweet spirit of nitre is of saltpetre. Each was originally 
made by distilling the respective salts with sulphuiic acid 
and alcohol. This name was officinal in the Edinburgh 
Pharmacopoeia of 1722, and applied to a spirit of hydro¬ 
chloric ether obtained by distilling a mixture of one part 
of muriatic acid and three parts of alcohol, after digesting 
the mixture for several days, and redistilling the product 
one or more times, until free from acid. This is probably 
what was used under that name. 
In the Prussian Pharm. of 1847, a sort of spirit of 
chloric ether, under the name Spiritus Alt her is Chloral i, is 
made by distilling 16 parts of chloride of sodium, 6 parts 
of binoxide of manganese, 12 parts of sulphuric acid, and 
48 parts of stronger alcohol, sp. gr. -813. The acid and 
alcohol are to be carefully mixed and poured on the salt 
and oxide, previously placed in a large retort, and the 
