PHARMACEUTICAL  GLEANINGS. 
17 
as  druggists  often  find  it  useful  to  mark  the  tare  on  bottles  with 
a  scratching  diamond. 
New  Apparatus  for   extracting   Drugs. — M.  Schwaerzler 
(Gazette  d 'Augsbourg,  Avril  23,  1853,)  has  stated  that  if  a  flask 
is  three  fourths  filled  with  water,  and  then  closed  with  an  air- 
tight cork  through  which  passes  a  tube  reaching  to  the  bottom  of 
the  flask,  and  the  latter  is  plunged  into  boiling  water,  it  is  well 
known  that  the  dilatation  of  the  enclosed  air  will  force  the  liquid 
out  through  the  tube.    If  a  funnel-shaped  vessel  is  attached  to 
the  top  of  the  tube  securely  by  a  soft  cork,  the  fluid  will  be 
driven  up  into  it,  and  a  portion  of  air  will  escape  through  the 
tube.    If  now  the  flask  is  lifted  out  of  the  water  bath,  the  air 
in  it  contracts,  and  the  water  in  the  upper  vessel  returns  to  the 
flask.    Taking  advantage  of  this,  idea,  an  anonymous  corre- 
spondent of  the  Journal  de  Pharmacie,  (tome  xxiv.  p.  134,  3e 
serie,)  has  suggested  a  lixivating  apparatus  which  consists  of  a 
flask,  a  tubulated  bell-glass  inverted,  and  a  suitable  tube  con- 
necting them  in  the  manner  described.    A  diaphragm  of  perfo- 
rated tin  is  placed  within  the  bell-glass,  and  upon  this  the  sub- 
stance to  be  extracted  is  loosely  put.  The  flask  is  now  placed 
in  a  vessel  of  boiling  water ;  the  water  in  the  flask  soon  commences 
to  rise  in  the  bell-glass  until  it  has  covered  the  ingredients. 
After  contact  a  sufficient  time,  by  lifting  up  the  apparatus  from 
the  water  bath,  the  fluid  retreats  to  the  flask,  and  carries  with  it 
a  part  of  the  soluble  matter  of  the  substance.  This  is  repeated 
several  times  until  the  substance  is  sufficiently  exhausted. 
We  have  tried  this  experiment  with  a  Florence  flask  and  an  inver- 
ted bottle  with  the  bottom  removed,  and  find  it  operates  very  well. 
The  writer  suggests  that  it  is  equally  applicable  to  extraction 
with  alcohol  and  ether,  avoiding  the  point  of  ebullition,  providing 
the  upper  vessel  with  a  cover,  and,  in  the  case  of  ether  a  con- 
densing apparatus,  to  avoid  loss.  In  our  small  experiment,  the 
temperature  of  the  liquid  in  the  upper  vessel,  when  the  air  com- 
menced to  escape,  was  about  180°  F. 
[Note.  We  have  examined  a  soldering  iron,  constructed  at  the  suggestion 
of  Mr.  R.  A.  Tilghman,  of  this  city,  more  than  two  years  ago,  which  is 
keated  precisely  in  the  same  way  as  Mr.  Boggett's  plaster  spatula  at  page 
15. — Editor.] 
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