526 
Poivdered  Vegetable  Drugs. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Ptaarm. 
t     October,  1897. 
ANILIN  HYDROCHLORIDE  SOLUTION. 
Anilin  h}Tdrochloride  .  . 
Hydrochloric  acid  (C.  P.) 
Alcohol  (95  per  cent.)  . 
Distilled  water  
5  gm. 
25  c.c. 
25  c.c. 
50  c.c. 
The  anilin  hydrochloride  is  dissolved  in  the  alcohol,  and  to  this 
solution  the  water  containing  the  hydrochloric  acid  is  added.  When 
this  solution  is  used,  of  course,  crystals  of  calcium  oxalate  or 
calcium  carbonate  are  destroyed. 
The  author  is  at  present  at  work  upon  other  solutions  having 
the  same  principle  in  their  composition  as  the  above ;  but  those 
mentioned  are  all  that  are  necessary  generally,  and  have  been  used 
with  success. 
(2)  All  investigators  should  record  the  size  of  the  tissues  or  their 
contents  in  microns.  The  length  of  bast  or  wood  fibres,  size  of 
pores,  crystals,  starch  grains,  stone  cells,  etc.,  are  all  more  or  less 
characteristic  for  the  drugs  we  have  to  consider.  It  is  not  sufficient 
to  say  that  drawings  were  made  by  the  use  of  a  ^-inch  objective 
and  a  i-inch  ocular.  The  objectives  and  oculars  of  the  various 
makes  of  microscopes  not  only  magnify  differently,  but  the  question 
of  tube  length  is  also  important  in  this  connection.  But  even  if  all 
of  these  data  were  given,  it  must  be  conceded  as  being  tedious  to  the 
reader  to  calculate  the  size  of  the  elements,  which  might  be  so 
easily  done  by  the  author.  Even  for  an  investigator  to  say  that  his 
drawings  are  magnified  so  many  diameters  does  not  give  us  the  true 
and  scientific  idea  of  the  elements  which  the  author  has  seen  and 
we  are  to  use  in  the  study  of  powdered  drugs.  We  need  records 
in  microns  of  the  size  of  tissues  and  constituents  of  drugs  from 
many  sources  for  comparison,  so  that  another  investigator  may 
readily  get  at  the  facts.  This  is  the  only  scientific  method  for  the 
prosecution  of  this  kind  of  work,  and  must  be  rigidly  pursued  by 
(3)  A  scheme  for  the  logical  qualitative  determination  of  a 
powder  is  necessary.  It  will  be  somewhat  difficult  to  work  out  a 
scheme  that  will  be  of  practical  benefit,  because  it  is  necessary  to 
begin  with  the  consideration  of  the  characteristics  of  all  drugs  and 
adulterants  that  may  be  used.  It  will  not  be  possible,  for  instance, 
to  separate  the  leaves  from  roots,  etc.,  as  is  done  in  the  study  of 
crude  drugs.  Many  points,  such  as  color,  taste,  odor,  as  well  as  con- 
all. 
