Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1897.  J 
Ammonol. 
into  loose  tufts  on  the  surface.  These  crystals  proved  to  be  acetanilid, 
showing  that,  as  stated  above,  it  had  been  partly  extracted  by  the 
water,  and  that  it  was  more  or  less  volatile  at  the  temperature  of 
the  water-bath.  On  incineration,  the  residue  left  -158  gm.  ash, 
which  required  29-  c.c.  f-^  sulphuric  acid  for  neutralization,  which, 
calculated  for  sodium  bicarbonate,  would  be  -24317  gm. 
One  gm.  of  ammonol  was  incinerated,  and  left  an  ash  weighing 
•157  gm.,  which,  titrated  with  sulphuric  acid,  required  30  c.c,  or, 
calculated  as  sodium  bicarbonate,  -2515  gm.  This  would  indicate  the 
presence  of  about  25  per  cent,  of  sodium  bicarbonate  in  the  product, 
and  leave  25  per  cent,  for  ammonium  carbonate. 
On  adding  hydrochloric  acid  in  excess  to  the  canary-colored 
aqueous  solution,  the  color  is  changed  to  a  rosy  pink,  which  is  again 
changed  to  the  pale  yellow  on  adding  ammonia  water.  With  nitric 
acid,  the  color  is  also  changed  to  pink,  but  in  excess  is  destroyed, 
the  solution  becoming  colorless,  and  ammonia  does  not  again 
restore  the  original  color.  From  these  reactions  I  became  con- 
vinced that  a  small  amount  of  some  aniline  color  had  been  added 
as  a  disguise,  and  not  for  medicinal  action.  An  examination  of  a 
number  of  so-called  aniline  orange  and  yellow  colors,  for  one  possess- 
ing similar  reactions  and  tinctorial  properties,  was  made,  and  the 
dye  known  as  metanil -yellow  was  found  to  give  similar  reactions. 
According  to  Allen  (Commercial  Organic  Analysis,  Vol.  Ill,  Pt.  1, 
p.  184),  metanil-yellowor  orange  MN,  is  the  sodium  salt  of  diphenyl- 
amine-azobenzene-meta-sulphonic  acid. 
From  my  examination,  I  am  compelled  to  conclude  that  "  ammo- 
nol," instead  of  being  a  new  "  coal-tar  derivative,"  is  merely  an 
admixture  of  the  well-known  acetanilid,  sodium  bicarbonate  and 
ammonium  carbonate,  and  that  the  following  formula  represents  its 
real  composition  : 
Grammes. 
R  Acetanilid  io* 
Sodium  bicarbonate  5* 
Ammonium  carbonate   5" 
Metanil-yellow  0-005 
Mixtures  of  acetanilid  and  sodium  bicarbonate,  as  an  antacid  and 
antipyretic  and  analgesic,  have  been  in  daily  use  by  nearly  every 
physician  for  at  least  a  decade.  The  addition  of  ammonium  carbo- 
nate as  an  arterial  stimulant  is  not  unusual,  and  in  many  cases  such 
a  mixture  must  undoubtedly  prove  serviceable.     Mr.  Joseph  W. 
