AmMay^8^7arm'}        Pharmacopoeial  Preparations.  257 
longed  preservation,  yet  I  have  tried  the  experiment  of  preserving 
fruit  (damsons)  in  stoppered  bottles,  adding  about  one  three- 
hundredth  part  of  their  weight  of  chloroform  to  them.  The  preser- 
vation was  complete,  but  the  flavor  of  the  chloroform  was  not  dis- 
sipated by  even  baking  the  fruit  in  pies. 
Hydrate  of  Chloral  has  been  used  as  possessing  similar  properties 
to  chloroform,  being  more  readily  soluble  and  less  volatile,  but  its 
taste  is  nauseous. 
Carbolic  Acid. — The  odor  and  flavor  of  this  most  powerful  anti- 
septic is  against  its  use  for  internal  administration,  excepting  for 
hypodermic  injections ;  it  is  the  best  preservative  for  ergotin  in 
aqueous  solution.  Boric  acid  in  this  solution  fails ;  Mr.  Severn 
kindly  infected  for  me  three  solutions  of  ergotin  with  Penicillium 
glaucutn\  No.  1,  without  preservative  added,  developed  in  forty- 
eight  hours  ;  No.  2,  with  I  per  cent,  of  phenol  added,  is  undeveloped 
yet,  after  five  days ;  No.  3,  with  2  per  cent,  of  boric  acid,  developed 
on  the  side  of  the  bottle,  just  above  the  surface  of  the  liquid,  in 
seventy-two  hours.  Creosote  also,  although  one  of  the  best  preserva- 
tives, as  its  name  indicates,  is  not  admissable,  on  account  of  its  odor. 
Cherry  Laurel  Water.— .This  is  recommended  in  France  for  pre- 
serving hypodermic  injections.  So,  also,  are  the  distilled  waters  of 
meadow  sweet  and  eucalyptus.    I  am  not  aware  that 
Formaldehyde  has  been  much  used  pharmaceutical^,  although  it 
has,  I  understand,  been  used  for  milk  preserving  for  some  time.  Its 
peculiar  action  on  gelatin  in  rendering  it  insoluble  would  tend  to 
prove  that  it  was  not  desirable  for  internal  administration,  as  it 
might  seriously  interfere  with  digestion. 
Hypophosphorus  Acid. — This  and  citric  acid  are  employed  com- 
mercially to  prevent  the  change  of  color  of  the  ferrous  syrups ;  as 
traces  only  are  needed,  it  may  be  considered  a  venial  offense.  But 
preservatives  are  sometimes  used,  or  are  added  even  officially,  which 
are  often  disadvantageous.  For  example  we  have  two  arsenical 
solutions  official,  one  acid  and  the  other  alkaline.  A  simple  solution 
of  arsenic  anhydride  in  water  of  the  same  strength,  colored  if  desired, 
is  perfectly  stable.  It  would  be  compatible  with  both  acids  and 
alkalies,  and  might  take  the  place  of  both  the  official  solutions. 
Carbonic  Acid. — This  in  solution  in  water  is  inhibitory  to  organic 
growths,  and  is  largely  used  in  preparing  carbonated  waters  and 
"  Fluid  Magnesia,'*  but  otherwise  it  is  not  of  much  service. 
