LECTURES ON THE BRITISH PHARMACOPCEIA. 
ON THE RELATION OF THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA TO 
PHARMACOLOGY. 
Lecture II. 
Delivered before the Members of the Pharmaceutical Society , April 20, 1864. 
BY DR. JOHN ATTFIELD, F.C.S., 
DIRECTOR OE THE SOCIETY’S LABORATORIES. 
(Continuedfrom Vol. V., p. 636.) 
Spiritus Ammonite Aromaticus. —Southall (Pliarm. Journ. vol. xviii. p. 
550) made exactly the suggestions which, carried out, would result in an aro¬ 
matic spirit of ammonia, having all the improved characters of that now ordered. 
He suggested the use of ammonia itself, as well as carbonate of ammonia ; the 
rejection of those aromatics that caused the spirit to become coloured when set 
by, and that it should be distilled ; precisely the three improvements on the Lon¬ 
don, Edinburgh, and Dublin spirits that have now been introduced into the pre¬ 
paration by the authors of the British Pharmacopoeia. 
Spiritus. —Proctor’s remark concerning the old London spirits (Pliarm. 
Journ. 2nd ser. vol. i. p. 2), that being little used, they might very well be re¬ 
placed by the stronger unofficinal essences, which were in far greater demand, 
seems to have been acted on. It is greatly to be regretted, however, that the 
name has not also been changed. The Dublin formulae having been introduced 
into the British Pharmacopoeia, why not have retained the Dublin name “essen¬ 
tia”? All three Pharmacopoeias, however, had formulae for spirits, and this is, 
possibly, the reason that the name “ essence’’ was rejected; but the strength 
having been so greatly altered, the consequence will be that in neither kingdom 
will the word u spirit” mean what it used to mean, whereas the term “ essence ” 
would have caused no ambiguity. 
Spiritus Chloroformi is now a five per cent, solution of chloroform in spirit. 
This strength was selected because the resulting liquid does not lose its chloro¬ 
form even when diluted by water containing much saline matter (Garrod, Med. 
Times and Gaz. 1864, vol. i. p. 389). Before it was made officinal, this spirit, 
then erroneously termed chloric ether, was well known to vary in strength from 
five to twenty-five parts of chloroform in one hundred. Tate (Pharm. Journ. 
2nd ser. vol. iii. p. 533) examined thirteen Liverpool samples, and found them 
to contain from ten to twenty per cent, of chloroform, indicating the importance 
of having its strength definitively and officially settled. 
Succi.—Juices of medicinal plants were ordered in many of the Pharma¬ 
copoeias of the last and early part of the present century. Those of hemlock, 
broom, and taraxacum are again introduced. A paper on these and several other 
expressed juices, the result of experiments commenced so early as the year 1835, 
by Squire, will be found in Pharm. Journ. vol. i. p. 94. He proposed them as 
substitutes for tinctures which are made from the dried parts of plants, thus 
obviating any deterioration from the exposure of Haves, etc., to the influences of 
heat, light, and air. The process for Succus Tarcixaci is also that described by 
Hills (Pharm. Journ. 2nd ser. vol. i. p. 401). 
Succus Limonis described in the Materia Medica as the expressed juice of the 
ripe lemon, may, according to Syme (Pharm. Journ. 2nd ser. vol. v. p. 161), be 
preserved unaltered for at least twelve months by simply heating to the boiling- 
point, and then, while still hot, bottling, corking, and securely sealing. He, in 
short, recommended Alsop’s well-known method of preserving infusions (Pharm. 
Journ. vol. i. p. 58). If bottled during the winter, the juice need only be heated 
to 150°. 
