dabby's  pbophylactig  fluid. 
397 
Office  John  Darby  &  Co.,  161  William  St.,  New  York. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy : 
Dear  Sir, — We  herewith  send  you  the  formula,  giving  exact  composi- 
tion of  Darby's  Prophylactic  Fluid,  an  article  we  are  introducing  as  a  dis- 
infectant and  therapeutic  agent,  and  respectfully  request  you  to  lay  it 
before  the  profession  through  the  columns  of  your  paper: 
Hypochlorite  of  Potassa,  30  per  cent., 
Permanganate  of  Potassa  (or  Soda),  10 
Bicarbonate  of  Potassa,  33  " 
Chloride  of  Potassium,  25  *' 
Biborate  of  Soda,  02  " 
The  chlorine  and  permanganic  acid  are  the  only  active  agents  ;  the 
other  materials  modify  the  action,  and  remove  by  their  detergent  proper- 
ties all  eliminated  materials.  Very  respectfully, 
John  Darby  &  Co. 
In  publishing  the  note  of  Messrs.  John  Darby  &  Co.  we  desire 
to  make  it  useful,  if  it  possesses  any  merit,  and  therefore  hazard 
the  following  opinion  of  its  modus  prceparandi :  We  believe  it  to 
be  a  solution  of  hypochlorite  of  potassa,  parallel  with  the  Liquor 
Sodae  Chlorata  of  the  British  Pharmacopoeia,  or  of  the  original 
"  Labarraque's  solution  of  chloride  of  soda,"  in  which  carbonate 
of  potassa  is  used  instead  of  carbonate  of  soda,  mixed  with  a  so- 
lution of  permanganate  of  potassa  and  borax.    Our  reason  for 
this  is  based  solely  upon  the  statement  of  the  note  that  it  con- 
tains jBi-carbonate  of  potassa,  as  we  have  not  examined  the 
"fluid."    If  made  from  chloride  of  lime  by  the  U.  S.  P.  process 
for  solution  of  chlorinated  soda,  the  carbonated  alkali  would  not 
be  bicarbonate,  but  carbonate  of  potassa.    By  carefully  evapo- 
rating the  "fluid"  to  dryness  its  solid  content  could  be  ascer- 
tained, and  then  it  is  not  difficult  to  fix  the  proportions  of  per- 
manganate and  biborate.     The  article  on  page  393,  by  Mr. 
McDonald,  has  some  bearing  on  this  subject,  but  with  quite  a 
difi'erent  object.    If  this  mixture  of  these  disinfectants  should 
prove  useful,  it  is  probable  that  a  similar  mixture  of  Solution  of 
Chlorinated  Soda  and  Permanganate  of  Potassa  would  act  quite 
as  well,  and  might  be  prescribed  extemporaneously  by  the 
physician ;  and,  if  sufficiently  permanent,  be  adopted  in  the  U. 
S.  Pharmacopoeia, — Ed.  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
