Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Nov.,  1882.  j 
Revieics,  etc. 
589* 
opium  to  contain  10  per  cent,  of  morphine,  and  since  a  fluidounce  of  tinc- 
ture of  opium  represents  37'5  grains  of  opium,  it  sliould  contain  3*75  grains 
of  morphine  ;  the  standard  selected  was  therefore  '85  grains  =  22-7  per 
cent,  stronger  than  tlie  minimum  strength  permitted  by  the  Pharmaco- 
poeia. It  will  thus  be  seen  that  those  samples  which  were  reported  to  have 
been  20  and  25  per  cent,  below  tlie  standard  sample  were  fairly  within  the 
limits  and  intention  of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  The  same  cannot  be  said  for  a 
few  samples  which  were  reported  to  have  yielded  40  to  50  per  cent,  less^ 
morphine  than  the  standard  sample  ;  but  whether  this  was  really  fraudu- 
lent dilution  has  not  been  explained.  It  is  well  known  that  certain  phar- 
macists always  sell  at  retail  laudanum  diluted  with  one-half  or  an  equal 
bulk  of  diluted  alcohol,  with  the  view  of  lessening  the  danger  of  serious 
mistakes  on  the  part  of  the  consumer.  Years  ago  we  have  pointed  out  the 
error  of  this  view,  and  the  injustice  thereby  done  to  those  pharmacists  who 
not  only  in  the  dispensing  of  prescriptions,  but  also  in  the  retail  sales, 
adhere  strictly  to  pharmacopoeial  strength  ;  but  our  opposition  to  this 
practice  does  not  j^rove  its  non-existence,  nor  lessen  the  good  faith — mista- 
ken though  it  may  be — in  which  it  is  kept  up  by  a  few,  and  until  the  con- 
trary has  been  shown  we  prefer  to  take  this  view  of  the  laudanum  cases, 
instead  of  regarding  them  as  fraudulent  sophistications. 
The  whole  crusade  dwindles  down  to  two  cases  of  fraud,  surely  a  grand 
result  of  the  continuous  vituperation  extending  through  several  months, 
and  this  was  announced  by  the  newspaper  in  question,  in  large  type  head- 
ings, as  "the  charges  substantially  sustained,"  and  "substitution  fully 
proven."  It  is  the  intention  of  the  Trade  Association  to  prosecute  the 
above  cases  of  fraudulent  substitution.  But  a  result,  which  was  not  looked 
for  is  this,  that  after  diligently  searching  for  cases  of  substitution  and  adul- 
teration such  an  insignificant  number  only  could  be  found,  in  a  city  where 
it  is  estimated  that  daily  about  4,000  prescriptions  are  dispensed ;  we  think 
it  should  be  a  lesson  to  those  who  waste  their  time  in  accusations  of  unlim- 
ited frauds  committed  by  pharmacists  and  druggists. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
On  Asthma;  its  Pathology  and  Treatment.  By  Henry  Hyde  Salter,  M.D.,. 
F.R.S.,  etc.  First  American,  from  the  last  English  edition.  New 
York  :  Wm.  Wood  &  Co.,  1882.    8vo,  pp.  284. 
Nearly  two-thirds  of  the  volume  is  taken  up  with  the  pathology,  clinical 
history,  aetiology,  diagnosis,  prognosis  and  treatment  of  the  different  forms 
of  asthma;  hygiene,  diet  and  the  various  remedial  agents  are  fully  consid- 
ered, but  amongst  the  latter  we  have  noticed  the  absence,  at  least  from  the 
index,  of  several  remedies  which  have  been  used  in  this  complaint  with 
more  or  less  success,  such  as  aniyl  nitrite,  eucalyptus,  grindelia,  jaborandi 
and  others.  The  appendix  gives  a  full  history  of  fifteen  selected  cases,  and 
in  tabular  form  the  history  of  223  cases,  nearly  all  of  which  had  come 
under  the  author's  personal  observation,  doubtless  an  addition  of  great 
value  to  tlie  physician. 
