416  Manufacture  of  Medicinal  Plasters.  {i£pteXVPiS?' 
This  experiment  was  repeated  several  times,  with  slightly  varying 
results. 
Additionally,  it  may  be  asked  why  the  author  selected  the  official 
fluidextract  of  ergot  for  the  foregoing  investigation;  it  may  be 
stated,  that  I  have  been  prompted  by  several  reasons.  First,  a 
promise  that  I  would  present  a  paper  to  be  read  at  the  meeting  of 
the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association,  held  in  Los  Angeles,  on 
the  "  Quantitative  Estimation  of  the  Alkaloids  Ecboline,  and  Ergo- 
tine  in  the  Official  Fluid  Extract  of  Ergot." 
During  the  course  of  analysis,  when  finally  the  chloroform 
solution  was  evaporated  spontaneously,  the  ergotine  was  found  to 
occupy  the  centre  of  the  deposit  in  the  form  of  prisms,  while  the 
amorphous  ecboline  occupied  the  peripheral  margin  of  the  deposit. 
In  order  to  separate  the  two  alkaloids  by  the  usual  solvents  in 
which  they  were  both  readily  dissolved,  carbon  tetrachloride  seemed 
to  dissolve  ergotine  in  preference  to  ecboline,  but,  unfortunately, 
it  dissolved  also  a  portion  of  ecboline  thus  rendering  the  complete 
separation  of  the  two  alkaloids  so  far  hopeless,  and  the  result,  for  the 
present,  must  remain  in  statu  quo. 
Second,  having  at  this  time  the  fluidextract  under  investigation, 
I  desired  to  make,  also  to  institute,  a  systematic  qualitative  analysis 
of  it  believing  that  inasmuch  as  Squibb's  fluidextract  prepared  by 
repercolation  would  fully  represent  the  medicinal  activity  of  the 
drug,  naturally,  preference  was  given  to  it. 
MANUFACTURE  OF  MEDICINAL  PLASTERS. 
By  Frederick  B.  Kilmer. 
I  understand  that  Professor  Remington  is  authority  for  the 
statement  that  the  spreading  of  plasters  has,  to  a  great  extent, 
become  a  lost  art  to  the  pharmacists  of  this  country.  If  this 
statement  be  accepted  it  may  be  well  for  a  few  moments  to  go 
back  into  history  in  order  to  obtain  some  information  in  regard  to 
this  so-called  "lost  art." 
We  are  told  that  the  art  of  surgery  had  its  birth  at  the  time 
when  injuries  of  primitive  man  began  to  be  bound  with  adhesive 
substances  made  from  the  gums  and  juices  of  the  forest.  We  know 
that  as  an  accompaniment  to  the  incantations  of  the  medicine  man  use 
was  made  of  the  poultice  or  plaster,  which,  though  empirical,  had 
