18 
All  I)>co)iH)(iiU)le  Mi.vfurf. 
j  Am.  Joiir.  Piiarin. 
1        JilM.,  lAA-l. 
AX  incompatiblp:  mixtuke. 
By  W.  Martindalk. 
Head  at  the  Ereninrj  Meeting  of  the  PharmaceutUml  Soc'ietn ,  Nov.  2,  1S81. 
Tlie  following  prescription  was  placed  in  my  bands  by  Dr.  Paul  to 
investigate  the  cause  and  nature  of  the  reactions  which  occur  in  pre- 
paring it,  and  to  suggest  a  mode  of  dispensing  it  in  a  condition  suit- 
able for  the  patient  to  take. 
li    Hydrarg.  iDerchlor.,       ....    gr.  ii 
Potassii  ioclid.,        ....  5ii 
8p.  chlorofornii,  .... 
Tinet.  cinchonjf,     .  .  .  .     aa  51 
Quinia?  sul])!!.,  ....  ^ss 
Aqiue,        .  .  .  .  .  ^ii 
M. 
The  chemist  Avho  dispensed  it  writes:  ''The  prescription  is  quite  a 
recent  one.  I  was  required  to  dispense  it  for  the  first  time,  and  had 
not  long  to  think  about  it.  My  mode  of  mixing  it  was  to  dissolve 
the  perchloride  in  the  spirit  of  chloroform,  then  adding  the  iodide  of 
potassium  (in  solution),  the  tincture,  and  finally  the  quinine  rubbed 
down  with  tlie  remainder  of  the  water.  Immediately  there  com- 
menced to  form  a  brownish  flocculent  precipitate,  a  portion  of  which, 
on  shaking,  adhered  to  the  side  of  the  bottle,  and  the  whole  of  the 
bark  seemed  to  be  separated,  forming  a  tenacious,  insoluble  mass,  a 
portion  of  which  I  took  out  and  put  into  my  mouth.  It  stuck  to 
my  teeth  and  gums  something  like  what  I  should  expect  bird  lime 
would,  and  tasted  bitter  and  of  the  chloroform." 
Mix  it  as  you  will  you  get  the  same  results.  If  the  iodide  and 
perchloride  be  dissolved  in  the  water  and  this  solution  added  to  the 
other  three  ingredients,  the  quinine  not  being  reduced  to  powder,  less 
aggregation  of  the  precipitate  takes  })lace  at  first  than  when  mixed 
as  before  described  ;  but  in  a  little  time  or  a  very  slight  elevation 
of  temperature,  such  as  a  w^armer  day,  the  precipitate  all  coheres 
at  the  bottom  of  the  bottle.  To  free  it  from  complication  I  dis- 
pensed it  with  proof  spirit  i^ice  tincture  of  cinchona  ;  a  dense  oily 
laj^er  then  sinks  to  the  bottom  of  the  bottle,  and  there  is  very  little 
