DESCRIPTION  OF  PHARMACEUTICAL  APPARATUS.  27 
ON  GLYCERIN  OINTMENT. 
To  the  Editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy  : 
Dear  Sir, — I  send  you  a  formula  for  an  ointment  which  I  have 
found  very  useful  for  chapped  hands,  lips,  excoriations  of  the  skin, 
&c.  &c.    I  have  called  it  Glycerin  Ointment. 
P    Spermaceti,  %ss. 
White  wrax,  3j- 
Oil  of  almonds,  lij.  (f.) 
Glycerin,  sj.  (f.) 
Melt  the  wax  and  spermaceti  with  the  oil  of  almonds  at  a  moderate 
heat ;  put  these  into  a  wedgewood  mortar,  add  the  glycerin,  and 
rub  until  well  mixed  and  cold.  I  have  used  this  ointment  in  my 
own  family,  and  distributed  much  of  it  among  my  friends,  and  can 
testify  to  its  value. 
I  am  not  aware  that  anointment  of  which  glycerin* forms  a  part 
has  been  proposed,  and  yet  few  physicians  are  ignorant  of  its  pro- 
perty of  protecting  and  soothing  inflamed  surfaces  of  the  skin  and 
mucous  membrane.  To  such,  however,  as  are  unacquainted  with 
its  valuable  properties,  I  would  refer  them  to  the  article  on  glyce- 
rin, in  the  last  edition  of  Wood  &  Bache's  Dispensatory. 
Yours,  truly,  John  H.  Ecky. 
Philadelphia,  Nov.  25,  1852. 
DESCRIPTION  OF  SOME  PHARMACEUTICAL  APPARATUS. 
By  the  Editor. 
The  following  described  apparatus  was  exhibited  at  the  Phar- 
maceutical Society's  monthly  meeting  for  May,  and  its  ingenious 
construction  has  induced  us  to  copy  the  plate  and  description 
from  the  Pharmaceutical  Journal  for  June,  1852,  as  it  may  be  of 
service  to  some  of  our  readers. 
The  Mackenzie  Triturator. — This  apparatus  is  intended  to 
perform  the  heavy  pestle-and-mortar,  and  other  mixing  operations 
*  [See  vol.  xxii.,  page  118,  of  this  Journal,  for  a  notice  of  glycerin  ointment 
by  Mr.  Joseph  Laidley.  Some  of  our  physicians  in  prescribing  glycerin,  for- 
get that  it  is  insoluble  in  falty  matter,  ami  can  only  be  incorporated  with  it 
mechanically,  to  effect  which,  it  is  necessary  that  the  fat  should  have  a  soft 
consistence.  We  have  had  prescriptions  for  a  certain  measure  of  glycerin 
to  be  incorporated  with  a  sufficient  quantity  of  butter  of  cocoa  to  give  it  the 
consistence  of  an  ointment,  just  as  though  it  was  a  fixed  oil.  To  properly 
unite  so  solid  a  fat  as  oil  of  cocoa  with  glycerin,  it  is  necessary  to  previously 
soften  it  by  combination  with  oil  of  sweet  almonds.— Editor.] 
