45  6  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {A&fp^Sw?iSo?' 
Can  Uniform  and  Therefore  Standard  Tinctures  be  Prepared 
from  Assayed  Drugs  Without  Assaying  the  Finished 
Products  ? 
By  C.  E.  Vanderkleed  and  L.  H.  Bernegau. 
The  authors  give  the  results  of  a  number  of  assays  of  tinctures  made 
in  various  ways  in  support  of  the  conclusion  that  uniform  tinctures  can- 
not be  prepared  from  assayed  drugs  without  an  assay  of  the  final  pro- 
duct, the  theoretical  reasons  for  variation  being  due  to  several  causes, 
as  follows:  (i)  The  drug  may  have  a  different  strength  from  that 
given,  due  to  moisture  variation  or  other  causes.  (2)  Faulty  manipu- 
lation or  imperfect  percolation.  (3)  Lack  of  comparability  of  the 
menstrua  used  in  exhausting  and  assaying  the  drug.  (4)  Differences  in 
cellular  structure  and  fineness  and  uniformity  of  the  powder.  Details 
are  given  of  investigation  of  the  following  tinctures :  Aconite,  bella- 
donna, colchicum,  digitalis  and  nux  vomica. 
Has  the  Free  Distribution  of  Antitoxin  by  the  State  been 
taken  Unfair  Advantage  of,  and  have  the  Results 
Warranted  the  Expense  ? 
By  Samuel  G.  Dixon. 
This  query  is  emphatically  answered  in  the  affirmative  as  regards 
the  last  part  of  it,  by  the  author,  who  gives  statistics  for  two  years 
from  the  Health  Department  of  the  State,  showing  that  of  8,833 
cases  of  diphtheria  treated,  only  807  resulted  fatally.  In  addition, 
the  free  antitoxin  was  used  during  this  same  period  to  immunize 
6,184  persons,  of  whom  only  53  afterwards  contracted  the  disease. 
The  cost  of  thus  protecting  more  than  15,000  persons  was  $40,826.- 
25,  and  at  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  cost  of  human  life,  this  in- 
vestment in  one  generation  should  yield  a  return  of  more  than 
forty-two  millions  of  dollars. 
The  author  wholly  commends  the  efficient  manner  in  which  the 
pharmacists  have  co-operated  in  the  work  of  the  Department,  as  the 
majority  of  the  532  distributors  scattered  throughout  the  State  are 
the  leading  pharmacists  in  their  respective  localities. 
Strontium  Bromide,  U.S.P.,  Eighth  Revision. 
By  Ambrose  Hunsberger. 
The  author  has  made  an  investigation  of  the  correctness  of  the 
statement  which  is  frequently  made  that  the  chemical  manufacturers 
of  the  United  States  do  not  supply  the  grade  of  strontium  bromide 
