ASSAY  OF  ALKALOIDS. 
5 
could  probably  be  secured  by  means  of  sugar,  with  the  addi- 
tional advantage  of  a  more  agreeable  taste. 
The  composition  of  the  compound  salt,  determined  by  direct 
analysis,  is  as  follows  : 
Bi03  =  237        =        50-11  per  cent. 
NH40  =  26        =       '5-50    «  « 
C12H6Ou         —  165       =       34-88    «  « 
5HO  =  45        =         9  51    «  « 
Bi  03,  NH40,  Ci+5  HO  =  473  100- 
The  bismuth  contained  in  the  washings  can  be  recovered  by 
neutralizing  them  with  ammonia,  and  treating  with  sulphuretted 
hydrogen.  The  precipitated  tersulphide  of  bismuth,  after  hav- 
ing been  washed  and  dried,  may  be  reduced  to  the  metallic  state, 
or  converted  into  the  subcarbonate  by  suitable  means. 
The  writer  is  unable  to  state  any  facts  in  relation  to  the  thera- 
peutical properties  of  citrate  of  bismuth  and  ammonia.  Owing 
to  its  solubility,  it  would  undoubtedly  be  more  perfectly  diffused 
over  the  mucous  surfaces,  or  more  readily  absorbed  into  the 
system,  than  the  ordinary  salts  of  bismuth. 
Accepting  the  evidence  of  Mr.  Schacht  as  conclusive,  the 
dose  of  this  salt  would  be  two  grains,  or  of  the  solution,  a 
fluidrachm. 
Chicago,  Illinois,  November,  1864. 
A  FLY-LEAF  TO  MY  "  ASSAY  OF  ALKALOIDS." 
To  the  Editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  : 
My  dear  Sir, — The  notice  which  appeared  in  your  last 
issue  of  a  paper  read  before  the  British  Pharmaceutical  Con- 
ference at  Bath,  by  Mr.  Thomas  B.  Groves,  of  Weymouth, 
England,  as  a  matter  of  course  requires  a  few  words  on  my 
part.  When  I  read  it,  and  before  the  appearance  of  the  com- 
plete paper  in  the  November  number  of  the  Pharmaceutical 
Journal,  1  wrote  to  you  that  I  did  not  intend  to  answer  until  I 
should  be  ready  to  give  the  results  of  my  progress  within  the 
year  past.  But  the  manner  and  spirit  in  which  that  paper  is 
conceived  and  in  which  it  was  received  by  the  meeting  at  Bath, 
