98 
Linimentum  Opii  Ammoniatum. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1889. 
LINIMENTUM  OPII  AMMONIATUM. 
By  M.  Conroy,  F.  C.  S. 
This  liniment,  according  to  the  recent  edition  of  the  B.P.C.  For- 
mulary, is  made  by  mixing  together  6  fluidounces  each  of  soap  lini- 
ment, compound  camphor  liniment  and  tincture  of  opium,  and  1  fluid- 
ounce  each  of  liniment  of  belladonna  and  stronger  solution  of  am- 
monia, with  directions  to  "  mix,  and  after  standing  a  week,  filter 
quickly  ;  "  while  in  the  first  edition  of  the  Formulary  the  directions 
to  the  same  formula  were  simply  "  mix  and  filter."  When  made  by 
this  latter  plan  I  have  invariably  noticed  that  a  crystalline  deposit 
takes  place  after  a  few  days'  rest,  from  which  it  would  appear  that 
the  object  of  the  instructions  contained  in  the  last  edition  of  the  For- 
mulary is  to  allow  this  separation  to  take  place  before  filtering.  This 
crystalline  deposit  resembles  morphine  very  much,  and  as  20  fluid- 
ounces  of  the  liniment  contains  6  fluidounces  of  tincture  of  opium, 
equivalent  to  198  grains  of  powdered  opium  or  to  19*8  grains  of  mor- 
phine, it  seemed  very  probable,  considering  the  presence  of  caustic 
ammonia,  that  morphine  would  crystallize  out.  With  the  object  in 
view  of  determining  the  nature  of  the  deposit,  I  sealed  up  a  bottle 
last  May,  made  to  the  directions  of  the  old  Formulary,  by  simply 
mixing  and  filtering  right  off,  and  did  not.  open  it  until  yesterday. 
This  bottle  contained  20  fluidounces,  and  after  syphoning  off  the 
clear  liquor,  the  crystalline  deposit  was  thrown  into  a  small  filter, 
drained,  and  freed  from  adhering  liniment  by  washing  with  a  little 
proof  spirit.  After  drying  at  212°  Fahr.  the  weight  was  found  to  be 
only  2*1  grains,  and  I  was  somewhat  surprised  to  find  that  the  crys- 
tals were  not  morphine,  nor  did  they  even  yield  a  trace  of  morphine 
to  the  usual  delicate  tests  for  that  alkaloid,  They  were  only  very 
slightly  soluble  in  water,  and  the  solution  gave  a  white  precipitate 
with  barium  chloride  insoluble  in  nitric  acid.  Heated  to  redness  on 
platinum  foil,  a  slight  charring  occurred,  due  probably  to  extractive 
matter,  as  the  crystals  were  of  a  yellow  color,  and  a  white  ash  re- 
mained, which  was  nearly  all  soluble  in  water.  This  solution  gave 
the  violet  potassium  flame  test,  and  a  little  of  the  solution  placed  on  a 
watch  glass,  with  a  drop  of  solution  of  platinic  chloride,  gave  a  small 
crop  of  crystals  on  standing  a  few  hours.  There  were  also  very  slight 
traces  of  calcium  and  of  meconic  acid.  This  result,  I  must  confess, 
came  to  me  as  an  agreeable  surprise,  for  I  have  looked  upon  this  lini- 
ment since  its  introduction  as  an  incompatible  mixture ;  but  it  is  very 
