Amo October,  Sob™' }  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  491 
was  found  that  all  the  cane  sugar  of  Syrup  of  Calcium  Lactophos- 
phate,  U.  S.  P.,  was  inverted,  under  ordinary  conditions,  within 
twenty  weeks,  while  19  per  cent,  of  that  contained  in  Syrup  of 
Hypophosphites,  U.  S.  P.,  is  inverted  in  the  same  time. 
The  Desirability  of  More  Elaborate  Pharmacopceial 
Standards. 
By  L.  D.  Havenhill. 
The  author  claimed  that  the  primary  aim  of  the  U.  S.  P.  is 
fo  provide  the  physician  with  an  armament  of  drugs  and  medicines 
of  standard  quality.  He  stated  that  the  gradual  replacing  of  the 
crude  drugs  by  crushed  and  powdered  ones,  as  well  as  the  increased 
demand  for  them  and  the  attendant  variation  in  quality,  makes  it 
desirable  to  have  more  elaborate  official  descriptions  and x  standards 
for  the  latter.  In  the  light  of  our  present  knowledge  of  the  quality 
of  crude  drugs,  pharmacists  cannot  hope  to  prepare  preparations 
of  satisfactory  uniformity  without  standards  for  color,  ash,  and 
extractive,  as  well  as  for  the  recognized  active  constituents. 
Deterioration  of  Hydrocyanic  Acid. 
By  Virgil  Coblentz  and  Otto  B.  May. 
The  deterioration  of  this  acid,  prepared  from  potassium  ferro- 
cyanide  and  also  silver  cyanide,  was  studied  under  various  conditions 
with  the  following  results :  Diffused  light  plays  no  important  part 
in  the  decomposition.  The  employment  of  50  per  cent,  alcohol  as 
a  medium  serves  as  an  excellent  preservative,  as  well  as  the  employ- 
ment of  a  1  per  mille  solution  of  acetanilide  or  acidification  with 
an  inorganic  acid.  Prussic  acid  is  best  preserved  in  paraffined 
bottles  where  every  contact  with  glass  is  avoided,  the  loss  amount- 
ing to  about  6  per  cent,  in  nine  months.  Decomposition  is  brought 
about  through  the  presence  of  alkali  cyanides,  especially  ammonium 
cyanide. 
Quantity  of  Arsenic  in  Bismuth  Salts  and  Testing  Same 
for  Arsenic. 
By  Virgil  Coblentz  and  Otto  B.  May. 
The  authors  advise  against  the  use  of  nitric  acid  in  the  ignition 
of  the  various  organic  salts  of  bismuth  previous  to  testing  for 
arsenic,  owing  to  the  difficulty  encountered  in  removing  the  last 
traces  of  nitrate  from  the  ash. 
