June 22, 1872.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
1027 
to our moral and intellectual well-doing. If young 
men (and, in this age of feminine progress, may I 
not also say young women ?—the former with their 
generous hearts and lofty aspirations, and the latter 
with their bright hopes and cheering smiles) would 
devote only one hour in the day to these two sub¬ 
jects, and apply the facts so acquired to their every¬ 
day lives, I do not hesitate to affirm that a vast 
amount of sorrow and regret would be saved to the 
world; or would they devote this one hour to some 
other study of a useful and ennobling character, 
sure I am that, although they may not acquire the 
genius or the intellect of a Shakspeare or a Milton, 
a Butler, a Paley, or a Faraday, their minds would 
be expanded and improved, to their own good, both 
in time present and to come.* 
One hour in the day is not a large demand; and I 
trust I shall not be thought severe when I say that 
in many instances young ladies may spare this 
small division of time from their conversations on 
the opera or the last new novel, or from their elabo¬ 
rate and self-imposed duties at the shrine of beauty 
and adornment; whilst, on the other hand, the same 
brief period may not unfrequently be subtracted by 
the younger members of the opposite sex from their 
fervent disquisitions upon political routine, or from 
those images of objects which float noiselessly away 
on the ridges of clouds blown from their favourite 
Havannah. But then it is so hard to study for one¬ 
self, and so easy to borrow one’s neighbour’s head; 
so hard to think, reflect, compare, compound, and 
abstract, and so easy to criticize, imagine and de¬ 
claim. Yes; but it is just because this is so that 
study claims our acknowledgment. It tells us that 
if we will accept it as a friend, it will not betray our 
confidence; for, in addition to giving us an insight 
into action and passion, and leading us onward and 
upward, it will show us many marvellous things. 
It will show us what the world is in which we live, 
from those laws which govern the rolling of the 
mighty deep to those which preside over the smallest 
occurrences of ordinary life, both alike leading the 
mind by an unbroken chain from the material to the 
immaterial, from the finite to the infinite. 
{To be continued.) 
IODIDE AND BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM. 
BY CHAS. D. CHASE. 
The object of this note, as -will be seen, is simply 
to call the attention of dispensers to the fact that 
most of the iodide and bromide of potassium found 
in the United States market, instead of being neutral, 
are alkaline in their reactions, and to illustrate the 
importance of this fact being generally known, f 
* “ The value of odd moments is incredible to those who 
waste them. An hour in every day withdrawn from frivo¬ 
lous pursuits and profitably employed, would enable a per¬ 
son of ordinary capacity to go far towards mastering a 
complete science. It would make an ignorant man a well- 
informed man in ten years. Even fifteen minutes a 
day devoted to self-improvement will be felt at the end of the 
year .”—The True Road to Sttccess. 
t The presence of alkaline carbonate in iodide and bromide 
of potassium is an impurity arising probably from the pro¬ 
cess of manufacture adopted in the United States. The re¬ 
ports on the iodide and bromide of potassium, used in 
medicine, published some two years since in the ‘ British Medi. 
cal Journal,’ show that in this country these salts are practi¬ 
cally quite pure. See Vol. I. of the present series of the 
Journal, pp. 89 and 147. 
The following prescription was prepared, with, 
results as given below:— 
JjL Morph. Sulpli. 
Aquse Cinnam. 
Potass. Bromid. 
Syr. Tolut. . 
Calisayte 
gr.iv 
Sij 
5 nj 
5iss 
5 iv. 
M. 
weighed 
and introduced 
shaking. 
The morph, sulpli. was 
into a four-ounce vial, the potass, bromid. weighed 
and rubbed in a mortar with the aqua cinnam. 
until entirely dissolved, and the solution poured 
over the morph, sulpli. contained in the vial. The 
morph, sulpli. refusing to dissolve after shaking, 
the vial was set aside and the preparation begun 
anew. 
This time the morph, sulpli. was dissolved in the 
elix. calisayae, the potass, bromid. in the aqua cin¬ 
nam., and the two solutions mixed. 
A precipitate immediately followed, which, upon 
the addition of the syr. tolut., and after 
slowly arose to the surface of the mixture. 
The preparation not being entirely satisfactory, a 
few experiments were made with a view of ascertain¬ 
ing the cause of precipitation. To be assured that 
the fault was not with the aqua cinnam. (which had 
been made by distillation from the bark), the pre¬ 
scribed quantity each of morph, sulpli. and potass- 
bromid. was dissolved separately in distilled water, 
and the two solutions mixed. 
The same result was obtained as when aqua, 
cinnam. was used as the solvent. 
An examination was next made of the morph, 
sulph./which proved to be pure sulphate of morphia'. 
The chances for the potass, brom. to prove perfectly 
faultless now looked rather “ slim.” A solution 
of the suspected salt was made in distilled water, 
and tested with litmus and turmeric paper. The' 
solution gave with both papers a decided alka¬ 
line reaction, which fact solved the mystery of 
the precipitation; for, as is well known, the alka¬ 
lies and their carbonates precipitate morphia from 
solutions of its salts ; and when the morph, 
sulpli. solution came in contact with the free 
alkali (potassa) contained in the potass, bromid. 
solution, the precipitate must inevitably have taken 
place. 
Several samples each of iodide and bromide of 
potassium were tested with turmeric paper, and in 
every instance the same alkaline reaction was 
observed. 
The foregoing serves to show how serious accidents 
might occur by dispensing the salts of morphia (or 
other alkaloids) with iodide or bromide of potassium 
which gives an alkaline reaction; for if prescribed 
with syrup, as in the above prescription, tile- 
precipitated. morphia will rise to the surface of 
the mixture, and, should it not be “shaken before 
taken,” the patient will be liable to take all, or 
nearly all, the morphine in the mixture at a single, 
dose. 
It is therefore advisable for the dispenser, when¬ 
ever a morphia salt is prescribed with iodide or bro¬ 
mide of potassium in solution, to first dissolve the 
latter, test the solution with turmeric or red litmus 
paper, and if alkaline neutralize with dilute muriatic 
acid before adding the morphia salt; and a bottle 
of the acid mentioned and the necessary test paper 
