742 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 18, 1871. 
venting an explosion from excess of carbonic acid 
when the cork is drawn. 
The dispensing of pills is not very popular, yet 
their use is extending; not so much in the old way 
of an aperient to accompany a mixture, but in usurp¬ 
ing the place of mixtures altogether. A few pills 
sometimes contain several alkaloids requiring great 
care in manipulation, and, like all other pills, should 
be of uniform size and shape. In dispensing pills 
containing extract, nucis vomicae, strychnia or other 
powerful ingredients, an excellent plan is to add a 
few grains of sugar of milk to pulverize the extract, 
or subdivide the alkaloid before mixing with the 
excipient, by which means more equal division of 
the active ingredient is obtained. When pills are 
repeated, they should be dispensed the same size as 
before, the ‘ q. s.’ required should be noted for refe¬ 
rence. Minute pills, containing one-eighth or one- 
fourth of a grain of alkaloid might be increased with 
advantage to a standard size of one grain by the 
addition of sugar of milk. 
Powders should be weighed, and not guessed by 
what has been termed the rule of thumb. 
Liniments and lotions require no special notice; 
but in dispensing liniment, clilorof. or camphor® it 
is needful to have dry bottles, as the least addition 
of spirit or water prevents a bright liniment. 
Most of the formulae in the B. P. are prepared to a 
definite quantity of twenty ounces, but in the prepa¬ 
ration of linjm. camph. comp, the old formula has 
been copied. Thus,— 
Campliorae £ijss 
01. Lavand. 5 j 
Liq. Ammon. Fort. W 
Spt. Vini 3xv, 
forming liniment. 5 xx ijss, as camphor in solution, 
equals its weight. 
fit Hydrarg. Percliloridi gr. ij 
Hydrarg. Subchloridi gr. xx 
Aquae Calcis ^ij. 
A lotion prepared from this prescription may be 
dispensed of two colours. If the calomel is mixed 
first, and a solution of sublimate, often kept for 
convenience, added last, a black deposit—black 
oxide of mercury—is formed; but if the sublimate 
is dissolved in the lime water, and the calomel 
added afterwards, the red oxide is deposited. 
Ointments are often prepared on a slab; in most 
cases a mortar answers better. I passed through 
Clerkenwell some years ago, and observed an abortive 
attempt made to prepare about 2 lb. of ung. sulph. co. 
on a slab, the hellebore and sulphur were in dis¬ 
tinct lumps, and the lard frigid. How much more 
satisfactory had the powders been mixed in a 
mortar, and melted lard added ! 
An ointment from this formula is more frequently 
dispensed by mixing; but a better plan is to melt 
the lard, add the oil, and when nearly cold stir in 
the precipitate:— 
Hyd. Nit. Ox. Lev. 3ij 
Adipis, 
01. Amygd. aa. ^j. 
Expressed oil of mace and other fatty substances 
mix much better with lotions if previously melted 
than if rubbed cold. 
Ung. potassii iodidi, ung. hydrarg. percliloridi are 
best prepared if the salts are dissolved in a little 
water in a test-tube, and ung. camphor® can be pre¬ 
pared perfectly smooth if the camphor is dissolved 
by a gentle heat in the lard. 
I should like to caution young men against com¬ 
mencing business too early in life. They had much 
better gain experience in London, or some other 
large town, and, if possible, obtain a knowledge of 
Continental pharmacy in France or Germany; and 
a term of engagement in the marble palaces called 
drug stores in the great continent of America might 
not prove useless. 
SPIRITUS AMMONIA AROMATICUS. 
BY JOHN T. MILLER. 
In the last number but one of the Journal there is 
an article on spiritus ammonise aromaticus, in which 
it is stated that this preparation “ ought to contain 
the ammonia in solution as the normal ammonium 
carbonate.” That the authors of the official process 
entertained the same notion may be inferred from 
the construction of the formula. 
Some time back, I noticed while distilling this 
spirit that ebullition was preceded by considerable 
effervescence. This fact led me to examine the com¬ 
position of the distillate, which proved to be, as I 
had suspected, strongly basic,—a result which sub¬ 
sequent experience showed to be invariable. In¬ 
deed, so large is the excess of base in sp. amnion, 
aromat. B.P., that we shall not be far wrong in 
regarding it as a solution of 
2NH 4 HO + (NH 4 ) 2 CO j . 
Variations in the composition of the product, but 
not, probably, to any great amount, may be expected 
to attend different conditions of manufacture. 
The statement of Dr. Divers, that by following the 
directions in the British Pharmacopoeia, “ the forma¬ 
tion of a spirit containing excess of ammonia is 
favoured but to only a small extent,” falls so short 
of the mark, that I can hardly imagine it to be 
founded on actual analysis. 
The writer in the Journal goes on to remark that 
in the older preparation—sp. ammoniac comp .—the 
essential oils were mixed with spirit of ammonia, 
“ this latter preparation being prepared by the 
double decomposition of sal ammoniac and potashes 
dissolved in proof spirit, and a certain quantity dis¬ 
tilled. It would, therefore, contain the ammonia in 
solution as a mixture of the normal and acid carbo¬ 
nate.” 
I venture to say, however, that this argument is 
fallacious, and that the spirit in question contains 
basic ammonium carbonate. 
I would refer those interested in the matter to a 
paper of mine in the number of the Journal for 
January, 1867. 
Dangerous Drugs. — Women will meddle with 
dangerous drugs, notwithstanding the fatal consequences 
that have so often resulted from their recklessness. Be¬ 
cause a child was cross, a Liverpool midwife, named 
Margaret Cunningham, gave it five drops of laudanum, 
which effectually stopped its cries, for the infant died. 
It is a pity women like Cunningham cannot find some 
better mode of quieting children than poisoning them. 
At an inquest the jury returned a verdict that the de¬ 
ceased had died from an overdose of laudanum “ unskil¬ 
fully administered,” and the coroner cautioned the 
woman .—Liverpool Courier. 
