Am.  Jour.  Pbarro.  \ 
November,  1897.  / 
Official  Lead  Preparations. 
56i 
acetate  has  previously  been  dissolved,  and  making  up  the  loss  by 
evaporation  by  the  occasional  addition  of  hot  distilled  water. 
The  exact  observation  of  the  original  volume  in  this  manner,  it  is 
claimed,  would  necessarily  produce  an  aggregate  weight  of  1,070 
grammes.  To  substantiate  this  claim,  the  specific  gravity  of  the 
solution  thus  prepared  is  advanced,  which  closely  approximates  that 
stated  by  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Determinations  by  the  writer  in  instances  where  cold  maceration 
was  employed,  with  the  stated  increase  in  the  amount  of  the  water, 
again  where  the  pharmacopceial  method  of  preparation  under  like 
conditions  was  followed,  and  finally  in  another  process,  to  be  de- 
scribed subsequently,  it  was  found  that  the  specific  gravity  remained 
n 
within  pharmacopceial  bounds,  although  a  less  quantity  of  —  sul- 
phuric acid  was  required  for  the  complete  precipitation  of  13  67 
grammes  of  the  solution. 
Goulard's  extract  may  also  be  prepared  by  cold  maceration,  viz.: 
by  introducing  the  lead  salts  in  a  bottle  with  the  water,  with  occa- 
sional agitation,  until  the  yellow  color  of  the  oxide  is  changed  to 
white. 
This  is  the  process  of  the  Austrian  Pharmacopoeia,  and  two  to 
three  days  are  stated  to  be  required  for  completion.  Positive  asser- 
tion is  made  that  with  the  disappearance  of  the  yellow  color  of  the 
oxide  no  more  enters  into  solution.  The  chief  objection  to  this 
method  is  the  time  it  requires. 
While  preparing  the  solution  by  cold  maceration,  it  occurred  to 
the  writer  to  try  if  the  substitution  of  hot  or  even  boiling  for  the 
cold  water  would  accelerate  the  solution  of  the  oxide. 
This  was  determined  to  be  the  case,  and  it  was  found  possible  to 
prepare  Goulard's  extract  in  a  comparatively  short  time,  avoiding 
the  troublesome  boiling  and  the  difficulty  experienced  in  the  pres- 
ervation of  a  definite  volume. 
The  following  are  the  directions  : 
A  strong  bottle — a  fruit  juice  bottle  holding  a  full  quart  will  an- 
swer— is  graduated  to  730  c.c. 
Distilled  water  is  heated  to  boiling  and  poured  into  the  bottle 
up  to  the  graduation  mark. 
170  grammes  of  selected  crystallized  lead  acetate,  previously 
broken  into  small  pieces,  are  now  quickly  added  and  the  bottle 
corked. 
