214 
on Hoffman's anodyne liquor. 
pressing himself, it is impossible now to ascertain whether the 
original preparation of Hoffman (published in 1732) was constant 
in its strength, as now recommended by the Pharmacopoeia. 
Beaume, (as quoted in Macquer's Chem. Diet., London, 1771,) 
says, in speaking of the rectification of sulphuric ether, " By 
distilling the liquor in the first receiver, together with a very 
small quantity of oil of tartar, by a very gentle heat of a lamp 
furnace, about two pounds and four ounces of pure ether may be 
obtained : and afterwards when a new receiver is adapted, and a 
stronger heat applied, from eight to ten ounces of aromatic 
liquor, which makes a good anodyne mineral liquor of Hoffman, 
will be distilled." 
The third edition of Lewis' Dispensatory, published at Dublin, 
1768, has the following formula for this preparation which ap- 
pears to be what the apothecaries of that day employed : 
" Hoffman's Mineral Anodyne Liqitor." 
Into half a pound of concentrated oil of vitriol, placed in a large glass 
retort, pour by little and little, through a long stemmed funnel, one pint 
and a half of highly rectified spirit of wine. Stop the mouth of the retort, 
digest for some days, and then distil with a very gentle heat. At first a 
fragrant spirit of wine will arise ; and after it a more fragrant volatile 
spirit, to be caught in a fresh receiver. The receiver being again changed, 
a sulphurous, volatile, acid phlegm comes over, and at length a sweet oil of 
vitriol, which should be immediately separated, lest it be absorbed by the 
phlegm. Mix the first and second spirits together, and in [every] two 
ounces of this mixture dissolve twelve drops of the sweet oil. If the liquor 
has any sulphurous smell, re-distill it from a little salt of tartar. 
" Whether this is the exact preparation, so much recommended 
and so often prescribed by Hoffman as an anodyne and anti-spas- 
modic, we cannot determine. We learn from his own writings that 
his anodyne liquor was composed of the dulcified spirit of vitriol, 
| crude ether] and the aromatic oil which rises after it ; but not 
in what proportions he mixed them together. The College of Wir- 
temburg seems to think that all the oil was mixed with all the spirit 
obtained in one operation without regard to the precise quantities." 
The product of this recipe must have been analogous to the 
present officinal spirit, the formula for which is evidently modeled 
after it. The great excess of alcohol distills over first, until the 
boiling point rises to the ether producing temperature, when ether 
is obtained, and finally the sulphurous oily product. The re- 
