Am  Jour  rha.in.(  FJiarmctceutical  Notes.  397 
Aug.,  1881.      J  ^ 
carefully  with  sodium  chloride  or  sulphate^  in  order  to  render  the 
alkaloids  more  readily  soluble  by  separation  of  their  particles,  which^. 
by  the  compression  necessary,  would  otherwise  be  in  a  condition  that 
would  require  more  time  to  eifect  solution  than  would  be  convenient. 
The  sodium  sulphate  has  been  adopted  as  a  diluent  or  disintegrator  by 
Messrs.  Wyeth  &  Brother,  of  this  city,  at  the  suggestion  of  Professor 
Roberts  Bartholow.  It  has  the  advantage  of  being  an  efflorescent  salt, 
so  that  however  long  kept  the  granules  will  not  absorb  moisture,  and 
the  medicinal  ingredients,  therefore,  will  remain  unchanged. 
Both  the  sulphates  of  sodium  and  of  morphia,  as  found  in  the  mar- 
ket, contain  mechanical  impurities  that  should  be  carefully  removed 
before  using,  as  particles  of  dust,  fibre,  etc.,  if  injected  might  give  rise 
to  much  inconvenience,  and,  in  some  cases,  produce  abscess.  The  salts 
are  dissolved  in  distilled  water,  the  solutions  filtered  and  the  filtrate 
evaporated  until  crystallization  begins,  and  afterwards  in  a  warm  place 
occasionally  stirred  and  evaporated  to  dryness.  During  this  operation 
all  dust  should  be  carefully  excluded.  Working  on  a  large  scale  the 
evaporation  .may  be  conducted  in  a  hot-air  chamber,  to  which  air  is 
admitted  by  passing  it  through  cotton  felt. 
The  employment  of  crystallizable  substances,  such  as  sulphate  or 
chloride  of  sodium,  as  a  diffusing  agent  is  certainly  preferable  to 
gelatin,  wdiich  has  also  been  employed,  the  objection  to  which  is  that 
being  a  nitrogenized  body  it  is  prone  to  undergo  decomposition  when 
exposed  to  heat  and  moisture. 
I  am  indebted  to  Messrs.  Wyeth  &  Brother  for  some  of  the  forego- 
ing suggestions. 
^' Musk  Rat  My sk.^^ — The  difficulty  of  obtaining  pure  musk,  and 
the  high  price  of  the  same,  makes  it  a  desideratum  to  find  a  substitute 
for  it  for  use  in  perfumery  that  possesses  the  advantages  of  strength 
and  cheapness.  We  find  these  in  an  article  called  by  the  above  |;itle, 
and  offered  for  sale  by  numerous  itinerant  colored  merchants,  who 
come  chiefly  from  New  Jersey,  where  they  obtain  their  supplies,  and 
offer  the  musk  pods  generally  at  the  moderate  price  of  10  or  16  cents 
a  pair.  If  10  or  12  pairs  are  cut  up  with  scissors  into  small  pieces, 
and,  with  the  addition  of  2  drachms  of  slaked  lime,  allowed  to 
macerate  for  a  week  or  two  in  a  pint  of  alcohol,  a  very  fragrant 
tincture  will  be  obtained,  which  will  be  found  at  least  three  times  as 
strong  as  the  tincture  or  extract  of  musk  generally  employed.    I  have 
