182 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. [September 2,1871. 
NOTE ON TINCTURE OF KINO. 
BY A. F. HASELDEN, F.L.S. 
The observations of Mr. J. W. Wood in the 
Pharmaceutical Journal, 19th August, 1871, upon 
the tincture of kino, U. S. Pharmacopoeia, are worthy 
of recognition and consideration. The inconveni¬ 
ences arising from the gelatinizing tendency of the 
tincture are equally applicable to the form of the 
P.B. As a rule, tincture of kino is not in constant 
demand, but it is frequently ordered in combination 
with other remedies during a prevalence of diarrhoea, 
more especially at this season of the year, and many 
practitioners prefer it to catechu. Tincture of kino 
is also used as an adjunct to mouth-waslies, and any 
method of making or keeping it so that it shall re¬ 
main unaltered will be a desirable acquisition. 
For some years past I have preserved tincture of 
kino from gelatinizing by keeping it in bottles hold¬ 
ing two oimces only.' Once commenced, this quan¬ 
tity is soon consumed, and there is no fear of a 
change taking place before so small a bottle is 
emptied. A few days ago I used the last of some 
prepared in 1869 stored in this manner. Four 
ounces also in a bottle kept filled did not gelatinize 
during the same period of time; but I doubt if this 
would be constant, as I have never succeeded in 
keeping a larger quantity, especially when the 
bottle was only partly filled. The addition of glyce¬ 
rine, as suggested by Mr. J. W. Wood, cannot, I 
think, be objectionable, and for other than the Phar¬ 
macopoeia, tincture I shall be tempted to try it, and 
hope to obtain an equally desirable result. 
LUNEBURGITE. 
BY C. NOLLNER. 
Liineburg, in Hanover, has for centimes been 
known for its manufacture of salt by evaporation. 
Dr. Volger has lately sunk a shaft to reach the de¬ 
posits of rock-salt and possibly of potasli-salts, and 
sis Mr. Nollner has analysed the minerals brought to 
light, he gives his opinion on the formation of saline 
deposits in general. He takes it for granted that the 
deposits at Stassfurt and other places, have been 
formed by the evaporation of sea-water. In this pro¬ 
cess chloride of sodium and gypsum separated first, 
after that the sulphates, then the chlorides of the 
alkalies, and, lastly, the deliquescent compounds of 
chloride of calcium and magnesium. Together with 
the last layer of chlorides other compounds separated, 
which were formed by decomposition in such manner 
that the deliquescent chlorides could give rise to but 
little soluble salts. Foremost among this class stand 
the boracites, which alwaj r s contain chlorides, be¬ 
cause every ciystal includes some of the surrounding 
motlier-lye. 
Again, the lower strata of rock-salt contain gypsum 
with an equivalent of water, but the upper deli¬ 
quescent chlorides contain anhydride, because the 
concentrated solutions of Ca, Cl + Mg Cl required all 
the water. In like manner artificial boracite, so¬ 
luble to the extent of only 3 per cent., separates from 
the last motlier-lyes in saltpetre refining; whereas, 
if it had been ready found from the beginning, it 
would have separated long before the potash salt¬ 
petre. For the same reason such saltpetre, contain¬ 
ing borate of magnesia, with often 18 per cent, of 
chlorine, becomes richer in chlorine the oftener it 
is washed. Not only boracic acid, but also phos¬ 
phoric acid, is found in these salts separated from 
sea-water, especially in Stassfurtite and in the bora¬ 
cites just mentioned, but most of all in the mineral 
which has been discovered at Liineburg, and which, 
therefore, has been named Liineburgite. Now, if 
the products of sea-water, formed by evaporation, 
contain phosphoric acid, boracic acid and fluorine, 
it stands to reason that these substances must ori¬ 
ginally have been in the sea-water; this had never 
yet been ascertained, but these substances are neces¬ 
sary for the formation of fish-bones, which can only 
be produced from the sea-water, as fish and their food 
live in the water. 
Mr. Nollner then dwells on the question of the 
evaporation of sea-water, but this is only of local in¬ 
terest. 
The mineral was found to have the composition, 
2MgO ,H0P0 5 + MgO.BOj + 7HO, 
being MgO . . . 25T0 per cent. 
P0 5 ... 29-83 
BO s . . . 1482 
HO. . . . 30-25 
100-00 
— Buchner's Bepert. fur Pliarm. viii. p. 484. 
HISTORICAL OUTLINES OF PHARMACY 
IN SPAIN. 
BY DR. T. B. ULLERSrERGER, OF MUNICH. 
In tracing back the liistoiy of Spanish phar¬ 
macy to its earliest infancy we must go to the gene¬ 
ral history of the profession, winch records the 
gradual rise and development of the craft. The 
knowledge and experience of the ancient Greeks 
were personified by them; they identified the tradi¬ 
tions of former times with a Melampus, a Chiron, 
or JEsculapius; philosophers and healers at that 
time, the true and only inquirers of nature, were the 
representatives of pharmacy ; Hippocrates, Aristotle 
and the Esculapians were, to a certain degree, phar- 
macognosts. Pedanius Dioscorides appeared as a 
pharmaceutical writer; his works, to which at a later 
time the ‘ Alexipliarmaca ’ was added, were made 
widely known by Matliioli. Nero’s physician, Andro- 
maclius, was the first to take the title of arcliiates, 
or chief physician, and he gave his name to a 
nostrum, which even at the present day is largely 
sold in Venice and Madrid, viz. the tlieriaca An- 
dromacha. Galen concentrated into practical ap¬ 
plication all the experience hitherto gained. The 
alchemy of the ancient Arabs, with all its transmis¬ 
sions from the magicians, had already participated 
in medicine, and the introduction of remedies from 
the mineral, animal and vegetable kingdoms became 
more sharply organized. But much superstition 
was mixed up with the use of plants, and the dis¬ 
gusting administration of excrements was pushed 
forward, and the prescription of precious stones was 
carried out to a ridiculous extent. This stage in 
our history is generally known under the name of 
the Galeno-Arabic period ; the African Arabs of the 
Alexandrian school, trained in the remnants of Pto¬ 
lemaic doctrines, in conjunction with Jewish healers 
and learned rabbis, carried much relating to remedies 
and their preparation from one shore of the Mediter¬ 
ranean to the other. 
