5^4 
The  Netherlands  Pharmacopoeia. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(  November,  1910. 
tion  regarding  solubility  in  water  and  alcohol,  and  indicating  the 
drugs  which  are  to  be  kept  away  from  light  and  those  which  are 
to  be  kept  in  hermetically  sealed  containers.  If  a  physician  desires 
to  use  a  larger  dose,  he  is  expected  to  indicate  the  fact  by  placing 
an  exclamation  point  (  !)  after  the  name  of  the  medicine  specified. 
These  doses  hold  not  only  for  substances  when  intended  for  internal 
administration  but  also  when  administered  hypodermically,  used  in 
suppositories,  or  applied  to  the  skin. 
First  Help  Table. — In  order  that  the  pharmacist  may  be  prepared 
to  act  in  cases  of  sudden  poisoning  there  is  given  in  the  Appendix 
an  outline  of  procedure  and  a  list  of  suitable  antidotes  which  may  be 
easily  dispensed  by  him,  he  being  required  to  summon  a  physician  as 
soon  as  practicable. 
The  Appendix  comprises  some  eight  or  nine  tables,  including 
(i)  general  reagents;  (2)  volumetric  solutions;  (3)  a  table  of  solu- 
tions of  the  alkalies  and  mineral  acids,  giving  the  specific  gravity, 
amount  of  the  chemical  in  1000  c.c,  and  the  titration  equivalent  for 
each  cubic  centimetre;  (4)  a  table  giving  the  specific  gravity  of 
certain  substances  at  temperatures  between  120  and  35 0  C,  as 
alcohol,  ether,  chloroform,  mineral  acids,  etc.;  (5)  a  table  giving 
the  number  of  standard  drops  in  a  gramme  of  various  potent  drugs ; 
(6)  an  alcohol  table ;  (7)  a  saturation  table;  (8)  a  neutralization 
table,  showing  the  amount  of  alkali  necessary  to  neutralize  acids  or 
of  acids  to  neutralize  alkalies;  (9)  a  table  of  atomic  weights  of  the 
common  elements. 
While  it  would  be  desirable  for  some  reasons  to  compare  for- 
mula with  formula  and  description  with  description  of  the  Nether- 
lands and  our  own  Pharmacopoeia,  this  is  manifestly  impracticable, 
even  with  many  of  the  important  ones,  in  a  paper  of  this  kind.  I 
will,  however,  consider  a  few  of  the  minor  or  detailed  features. 
Not  only  has  the  Netherlands  Pharmacopoeia  adopted  the  stand- 
ards of  the  Brussels  Conference  for  tinctures  of  potent  drugs  but 
also  for  certain  alkaloids,  as  the  hydrochlorate  of  cocaine,  the  title 
of  which  is  hydrochloras  cocaini,  F.I.,  which  means  that  it  shall 
answer  the  original  MacLagan's  test  for  other  coca  alkaloids,  and 
in  addition  to  other  tests  there  is  a  method  given  for  the  detection 
of  cinnamyl  ecgonine. 
Under  the  various  galenicals,  as  tinctures,  various  data  are  given 
for  their  identification  and  test  of  purity,  as  color,  specific  gravity, 
amount  of  extract,  and  certain  specific  tests.  In  the  preparation  of 
tinctures,  unless  a  special  method  is  given,  either  percolation  or 
