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CITRINE  OINTMENT  OF  THE  BRITISH  PHARMACOPOEIA.  299 
atures  will  produce  intermediate  colors  and  degrees  of  hardness,- 
from  impracticable  solidity  to  absolute  liquidity. 
Besides  color  and  consistence,  there  is  another  quality  to  be 
attended  to.  When  the  chemical  action  has  been  feeble,  the  oint- 
ment produced  will  be  acrid  and  irritating,  as  well  as  hard  and 
pale.  A  portion  of  this  kind  of  ointment,  which  to  the  taste 
was  very  acrid  when  newly  made,  became  in  a  few  weeks  much 
less  so;  in  three  months  it  was  no  longer  acrid  but  metallic  in 
taste.  The  frequent  occurrence  of  this  acridity  induced  surgeons 
to  prescribe  the  ointment  in  a  state  of  dilution  with  lard  or 
other  ointments,  so  that  it  is  now  almost  never  otherwise  pre- 
scribed than  diluted.  Would  it  not  be  better  to  reduce  the 
strength  of  the  ointment  in  the  formula  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  to 
one-half,  and  thus  put  an  end  to  the  necessity  of  diluting  it  ?  The 
dilute  citrine  ointment,  as  directed  in  prescriptions,  has  no 
definite  meaning  as  to  strength,  and  the  difficulty  of  preparing 
it  is  a  continual  source  of  annoyance  to  the  apothecary. 
I  fear  it  is  impracticable  to  obtain  a  citrine  ointment  which,  at 
its  first  production,  shall  always  present  the  same  appearance 
and  possess  the  same  qualities  by  any  process  which  does  not 
carry  into  effect  the  following  particulars,  viz.  :  the  temperature 
at  which  the  mercurial  solution  and  the  fatty  matters  respectively 
are  to  be  mixed,  and,  by  art,  maintained  ;  the  relative  quantities 
of  each  of  the  ingredients,  and  the  absolute  quantity  of  the 
whole,  which  is  not  to  be  varied,  for  much  depends  on  this. 
Were  all  this  accomplished,  the  ointment  would  still  be  liable 
to  subsequent  changes,  during  which  its  medical  effects  must 
alter.  So  that  it  is  probably  hopeless  to  expect  an  unexceptionable 
process  for  obtaining  a  permanent  ointment,  containing  nitrate 
of  mercury  in  any  of  its  forms.  It  might  be  supposed  that  the 
most  prudent  way  to  proceed  would  be  to  prepare  only  small 
quantities  at  a  time  ;  but  here  again  we  are  met  by  the  possible 
acridity  of  the  new  ointment.  Dr. "Duncan's  process,  from  which 
he  expected  so  much,  does  not  obviate  the  difficulties  in  question. 
A  Dublin  apothecary,  nearly  a  century  ago,  acquired  great 
fame  for  making  a  citrine  ointment  which  remained  apparently 
unchanged  during  a  long  time,  and  was  soft  from  the  beginning.- 
It  was  known  that  the  basis  was  butter.  I  have  tried  it,  but 
found  it  acrid  for  a  very  long  time. — London  Pliarrn.  Journal, 
April,  1865,  from  Dublin  Medical  Press. 
