February 24, 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
681 
ILLUSTRATIONS OF SOME PHARMACEU¬ 
TICAL PROCESSES AND APPARATUS.* 
As Exhibited tu the Class in the Philadelphia College 
of Pharmacy . 
BY PROFESSOR E. PARRISH. 
The illustration of a course of lectures in phar¬ 
macy gives an opportunity for noting carefully de¬ 
tails and results which in common practice are over¬ 
looked, or, if observed, are not made public. 
The processes detailed in this essay were con¬ 
ducted at the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, in 
presence of the large class of students, with such 
facilities only as a lecture-room, with its counter, 
sink, hydrant, and gas-supply afford. 
The energies of the lecturer being mainly directed 
to explanation and oral instruction, an assistant is 
employed in the management of the several processes 
simultaneously going on during the lecture; to his 
skilful assistant, Jos. P. Remington, the writer ac¬ 
knowledges himself indebted for useful suggestions, 
especially in the construction of the steam-evaporat¬ 
ing apparatus herein described. 
Immediately after a statement of the scientific 
facts and principles pertaining to the generation and 
application of heat in pharmacy, the process of eva¬ 
poration and the apparatus suitable for the prepara¬ 
tion of extracts are brought into view, models and 
drawings are used for some, while evaporating-dishes, 
sand-baths, steam-batlis and water-baths are shown 
in actual use. 
The annexed drawing shows a steam-boiler, eva¬ 
porating-pan and still-liead constructed for the pur¬ 
poses of this course of instruction. A is a boiler of 
i inch thick (No. 10 wire gauge), copper, 1 foot 9 
inches long by 7 inches in diameter. It is held in 
position by a stout iron frame, at an elevation of 12 
inches, so as to allow of a stand of 8 Bunsen burners 
to be so placed as to spread a clean flame over the 
entire length of the bottom. Each of these burners 
has a tube inch diameter and 5^- inches long. The 
water-supply pipe, which is seen on the extreme left, 
is 1- inch in diameter, and has a valve at H which 
closes when not in use. The two small water-cocks 
are designed to ascertain the elevation of water in 
the boiler. A f inch steam-pipe connects the boiler 
with the steam jacket. 
* Reprinted from, the American Journal of Pharmacy, 
January, 1872. 
Third Series, No. 87 . 
The evaporating-pan B, set in an iron frame 20 
inches high, consists of a concave dish of tinned 
copper, 1 foot in diameter, (5 inches deep, with a 
steam jacket and a brass flange 1^ inch wide riveted 
on to it. 
The dome, C, is of copper, and has a similar flange, 
by which it is designed to be clamped on to the eva¬ 
porating-pan when the apparatus is used for distilla¬ 
tion. This junction is made steam-tight by a coil of 
lamp wick interposed between the flanges. The drip 
pipe from the steam jacket empties into the adjacent 
sink; it is, for convenience, readily separable. The 
steam-pipe being connected by a coupling, the dif¬ 
ferent parts of the apparatus may with facility be 
separated from each other. The gas burners are 
connected by elastic tubing with a T pipe in the 
counter. 
The first preparation made in this apparatus was 
Extractum Gentianee , U. S. P. The percolation was 
previously started in a cylinder of tinned iron, with 
a stop-cock attached. 9(5 troy ounces (0 lb. 9 oz. av.) 
of ground gentian, somewhat coarser than that which 
would pass through a No. 40 sieve, was macerated 
in sufficient cold water thoroughly to saturate it, 
then packed in the percolator and water added till 
about a gallon of dense percolate had passed. This 
was introduced near the beginning of the lecture into 
the evaporating-pan, and steam turned on. In a 
few minutes the liquid was in active ebullition; after 
boiling a short time it was removed and strained, 
but without yielding a precipitate of insoluble matter; 
the strained liquid returned was rapidly inspissated 
till the close of the lecture. The percolation con- 
I tinued yielded about 2 gallons additional of perco¬ 
late, which with the first portion was evaporated in 
the interim to a soft pilular consistence, and the 
finished extract exhibited at the following lecture. 
The product weighed 2 lbs. 11 oz. av.=41 per cent., 
which might have been some¬ 
what increased if the percola¬ 
tion had been longer continued, 
though without profit. The 
gentian, at 1(5 cents per lb., 
which included the cost of 
powdering, cost $1.08; the fuel 
may be estimated as costing 30 
cents. The extract, therefore, 
cost in the aggregate $1.44= 
52 cents per lb. It was of su¬ 
perior quality, of rich brown 
colour, and with a decided odour 
of the root. 
Extractum Jalap a, TJ. S. P. 
Two pounds, avoirdupois, of 
finely powdered jalap was 
moistened with (5 fluid ounces 
of alcohol, sp. gr.*835, and packed in a strong 10-incli 
glass funnel, which was suspended over a suitable re¬ 
ceiving vessel. Alcohol was added till about 4 pints of 
tincture had passed; then water was gradually poured 
on, and its progress watched till it had nearly reached 
the perforated cork diaphragm fitted above the neck of 
the funnel. Another receiver was now substituted,. 
and, the supply of water being kept up, 6 pints of 
aqueous percolate was received. The success of the 
last part of this process was more complete than was 
anticipated with so fine a powder of jalap, a per¬ 
forated cork diaphragm of about 2 inches diameter 
