492  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  {A^pfe0mberhia&r97?' 
present  an  account  of  his  examination  of  the  oil  before  the  Association,  he  was 
told  that  they  would  cheerfully  send  samples  of  the  oil  in  response  to 
inquiries  irom  any  one  interested.  He  stated  the  cost  of  peanut  oil  is  much 
below  that  of  olive  oil. 
The  paper  was  followed  by  some 
PRACTICAL  NOTES. 
By  Joseph  Feil. 
A  series  of  experiments  indicated  to  the  author  that  under  the  ordinary  con- 
ditions of  most  drug  stores,  tincture  of  iodine  will  remain  of  U.S. P.  strength  for 
about  one  month — that  is  to  say,  if  the  bottle  is  opened  once  or  twice  a  day,  and 
if  kept  on  a  shelf  exposed  to  diffused  daylight  ;  if,  however,  the  container  is 
kept  in  a  dark  closet,  exposed  to  the  same  conditions  of  occasionally  being 
opened,  it  remains  unchanged  for  two  months.  The  author  suggested  that  the 
Pharmacopoeia  require  the  preparation  to  be  kept  in  a  dark  place. 
Tn  regard  to  the  variation  in  strength  of  tincture  of  opium,  he  stated  that 
inquiry  seemed  to  clearly  indicate  careless  manipulation  in  the  preparation  of 
the  tincture  as  almost  the  only  reason  for  this  condition  of  affairs. 
The  author  stated  that  powdered  cinchona  of  a  quality  far  exceeding  U.S. P. 
requirements  is  readily  obtainable  at  a  moderate  price,  yet  the  ordinary  article 
is  only  50  to  70  per  cent,  of  what  it  should  be  in  alkaloidal  strength.  He 
believed  a  possible  cure  for  this  condition  of  affairs  would  be  a  shorter  method 
of  assay  for  the  drug,  if  it  is  possible  to  devise  one,  even  if  it  does  not  give 
absolute  results. 
The  writer  said  although  the  U.S. P.  recommends  excellent  wines,  such  as 
California  Reisling  and  Ohio  Catawba,  from  which  to  prepare  the  vina,  yet  the 
favorite  article  used  extensively  to-day  is  sherry  wine,  an  article  notoriously 
impure.  He  found  pharmacists  consider  the  preparations  made  by  the  latter  as 
better.  He  considered  this  doubtful,  and  added  that  he  had  failed  to  find  any 
proof  that  the  newer  wines  make  better  preparations  ;  undoubtedly  they  are 
purer,  but  this  does  not  prove  that  for  medicinal  purposes  they  are  better,  unless 
clinical  evidence  can  be  shown  to  this  effect. 
In  the  discussion  that  followed  the  reading  of  the  paper,  Mr.  Payne  referred 
to  the  frequent  habit  of  some  druggists  making  the  tincture  of  opium  from  the 
gum  opium  instead  of  from  an  equal  weight  of  the  powdered  drug,  as  the  prob- 
able cause  of  the  varying  strength .  Professor  Hemm  stated  that  he  had  obtained 
the  strongest  tincture  by  using  maceration  instead  of  percolation.  He  believed 
that  the  calcium  phosphate  of  the  official  method  was  often  a  disturbing  feature 
that  prevented  solution  of  the  morphine,  possibly  through  being  alkaline  in 
reaction,  and  therefore  causing  the  alkaloid  to  be  liberated  from  its  salts  and 
remain  undissolved.  He  said  if  this  did  not  account  for  the  deficiency  in 
strength  the  official  process  of  percolation  must  yield  an  incomplete  extraction. 
Professor  Hallberg  spoke  of  the  use  of  granulated  opium  with  the  omission  of 
calcium  phosphate  in  the  process  of  maceration  with  water  as  having  been 
reported  on  favorably  by  many  pharmacists.  Regarding  Mr.  Feil's  note  on 
wines,  Dr.  A.  B.  Lyons  spoke  of  the  necessity  of  using  wines  containing  16 
per  cent,  of  alcohol  instead  of  12  per  cent  ,  if  permanent  preparations  were 
desired. 
