762 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[March 25,1871. 
SYRUP OF PHOSPHATE OF ZINC. 
Phosphate of Zinc.192 grs. 
Water.11 fl. drms. 
Syrupy Phosphoric Acid, sp. gr. 1-500 5 fl. drms. 
Syrup.10 fl. oz. 
Rub the phosphate with the water, add the acid and 
filter into the syrup. 
Each Jiuul drachm contains 2 grains of zinc 
phosphate and about 18 minims of dilute phosphoric 
acid. 
SYRUP OF PHOSPHATE OF QUININE. 
Take of Phosphate of Quinia* .... 96 grs. 
Water.13^ fl. drms. 
Syrupy Phosphoric Acid, sp. gr. 
1-500 2^ fl. drms. 
Syrup.10 fl. oz. 
Mix the acid with the water, add the quinia and filter 
into the syrup. 
Each fluid drachm contains 1 grain of phosphate 
of quinine and acid equal to about 10 minims of the 
dilute phosphoric acid. 
SYRUP OF PHOSPHATE OF IRON WITH 
QUININE. 
Take of Phosphate of Iron.192 grs. 
Phosphate of Quinia* .... 96 grs. 
Water.7 fl. drms. 
Syrupy Phosphoric Acid, sp. gr. 
1-500 . 9 fl. drms. 
Syrup.10 fl. oz. 
Rub the powders with the water, add the acid and filter 
into the syrup. 
Each fluid drachm contains 2 grains of phosphate 
of iron and 1 grain of phosphate of quinine. 
SYRUP OF PHOSPHATE OF IRON, QUININE 
AND STRYCHNINE. 
Easton’s Syrup. 
Take of Phosphate of Iron.192 grs. 
Phosphate of Quinia* .... 96 grs. 
Strychnia (in crystals) ... 3 grs. 
Water ..7 fl. drms. 
Syrupy Phosphoric Acid, sp. gr. 
1*500. 9 fl. drms. 
Syrup.10 fl. oz. 
Rub the phosphate of iron with 5 drachms of the water 
in a glass mortar, dissolve the strychnia and quinia in 
the acid, previously mixed with the remaining 2 drachms 
of water; mix and filter into the syrup. 
Each fluid drachm con tains 2 grains of phosphate 
of iron, 1 grain of phosphate of quinine and Apid 
part of a grain of strychnine. 
SYRUP OF PHOSPHATE OF IRON AND 
STRYCHNINE 
May be prepared in the same manner as the last, 
omitting the phosphate of quinine. 
I am conscious of the objections which may be 
urged against the prescribing of these compound 
preparations, but in the face of the constant and 
increasing demand for many, it appears to me futile 
to attempt to discourage them by dec linin g to pub¬ 
lish formuke. Such a course tends to perplex both 
the medical profession and pharmacists and to the 
introduction of quasi-secret remedies of unknown, 
and possibly of uncertain, strength. 
172, New Bond Street, JV. 
* The same weight of quinia, prepared by precipitating an 
acidulated solution ot the disulphate by solution of ammonia, 
collecting, washing and drying at 100® F., may be used, in 
the absence of the phosphate. 
NOTE ON OPIUM CULTURE. 
BY GEORGE W. KENNEDY. 
In a letter to the editor of the American Journal of 
Pharmacy , the author informs him that he has procured 
poppy seed from abroad, and supplied it to a friend 
in Illinois, with the view of trying an experiment in 
opium culture. The seeds were planted in rows two 
and a half feet apart, in well-manured, rather dry soil 
and in moist soil. The seed sown in the wet soil failed. 
The plants received good garden culture, and attained a 
height of three feet. After the petals had fallen, and 
the capsule attained some size, horizontal incisions were 
made around the capsules in the afternoon, and the exu¬ 
dation removed in the morning and dried in the sun. 
Some of the capsules failed to yield any juice, owing to 
the wound being too deep, and the juice passing into the 
cavity of the capsule. The yield of opium was small, 
many of the plants being imperfect. Mr. Kennedy 
made a partial examination of it, and detected meconic 
acid; and when treated by Mohr’s process, with subse¬ 
quent crystallization of the precipitate from alcohol, 
yielded 8-75 per cent, of morphia crystals, which gave 
the proper reactions with nitric acid and chloride of iron. 
Mr. Kennedy hopes to make a more successful experi¬ 
ment next year. 
SULPHO-CARBOLATE OF ZINC. 
In a letter to the editor of the American Journal of 
Pharmacy , Dr. A. B. Lyons, of Detroit, recommends the 
following process for the preparation of sulpho-carbolatc 
of zinc as simple, economical and satisfactory:—A crude 
sulpho-carbolic acid is first prepared in the usual way, 
by heating together sulphuric and carbolic acids—seven¬ 
teen parts of the former to sixteen of the latter. This is 
diluted with ten times its volume of water, and saturated 
with carbonate of lead. Into the filtered solution of 
sulpho-carbolate of lead is introduced a quantity of pure 
granulated zinc, equal in weight to the carbolic acid em¬ 
ployed. At the end of twenty-four hours the solution 
will usually be found free from lead, giving no precipi¬ 
tate with sulphuric acid or potassium iodide. When 
quite freed from lead, as indicated by these tests, the 
solution is decanted, heated to boiling, filtered and eva¬ 
porated to a small bulk to crystallize; or the evaporation 
is carried to complete dryness, the salt being obtained in 
the granular form. The salt procured in this way is of 
necessity free from sulphate, and yields fine large colour¬ 
less crystals, without any empyreumatic odour. 
BORAX. 
The New York Druggists’ Circular states that it may 
not be generally known how very valuable borax is 
in various purposes of household use. We find it 
the very best cockroach exterminator yet discovered. 
One half-pound, costing but fifty cents, has completely 
cleared a large house formerly swarming with them, so 
that the appearance of one in a month is quite a novelty. 
The various exterminating powders puffed and adver¬ 
tised have been found not fully effective, tending rather 
to make the roaches crazy than to kill them. There is 
something peculiar, either in the smell or touch of borax, 
which is certain death to them. They will flee in terror 
from it, and never appear again where it has once been 
placed. It is also a great advantage that borax is per¬ 
fectly harmless to human beings; hence no danger from 
poisoning. It is also valuable for laundry purposes. 
The washerwomen of Holland and Belgium, so pro¬ 
verbially clean, and who get their linen so beautifully 
white, use refined borax as washing-powder instead of 
soda, in the proportion of a large handful of borax pow¬ 
der to ten gallons of water. They save soap nearly one- 
half. All the large washing establishments adopt the 
same mode. For laces, cambrics, etc., an extra quantity 
of the powder is used; and for crinolines (requiring to 
