188 
Acid  Morphine  Meeonate. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharra 
t       AprU,  1887. 
deodorized,  150;  orris  root,  30;  storax,  0.50;  musk,  0.20. 
Ess.  Bouquet — Ext.  jasmin,  ext.  reseda  and  ext.  violets,  of  each 
50  ;  orris  root,  30 ;  liquid  storax,  0.50  ;  ambergris,  0.50  ;  oil  of  Cura- 
90a,  5.  This  extract  is  said  to  be  very  nearly  the  same  as  Bailey  & 
Co?s  of  London. 
Lacmoid  obtained  by  Merck  by  the  action  of  sodium  nitrite  on  re- 
sorcin  is  more  sensitive  than  litmus  and  might  easily  supplant  phen- 
olphthaleine.  As  an  indicator  the  following  solution  is  used :  Lac- 
moid, 0.5  gram ;  distilled  water,  100  cc. ;  alcohol,  (96  per  cent.) 
100  cc. — Phar.  Zeit.  f.  RussL,  xxv.,  p.  849. 
Chloroform  contaminated  vnth  arsenic  is  frequently  met  with,  accord- 
ing to  Dr.  Scholvien.  Ten  kilograms  of  chloroform  on  examination 
yielded  0.12  gram  of  arseniate  of  ammonium  and  magnesium.  To- 
quickly  test  chloroform  for  arsenic  he  recommends  shaking  with  dilute 
solution  of  caustic  potassa,  evaporating  and  treating  with  sulphuretted 
hydrogen  in  Marsh's  apparatus,  or  more  conveniently  according  to 
BettendorFs  method. — Schweizerische  Wochenschnft,  xxv.,  p.  22. 
Hayward's  hand  fire  grenades,  according  to  Gawalovski,  consist  of 
the  mother-liquor  obtained  in  the  manufacture  of  sea-salt.  It  is  an 
impure  solution  of  chloride  of  magnesium  and  chloride  of  calcium. 
Gawalovski's  analysis  showed  the  presence  of  18.329  per  cent,  calcium 
chloride,  5.700  percent,  magnesium  chloride,  1.316  per  cent,  sodium 
chloride,  2.179  per  cent,  potassium  bromide,  0.265  per  cent- 
barium  chloride,  72.211  per  cent,  water,  and  traces  of  iron  and  alumi- 
nium chlorides. — Chemisch-technische  Zeitung,  v.,  p.  22. 
THE  EVIDENCE  FOR  THE  EXISTENCE  OF  ACID  MOR- 
PHINE MECONATE.1 
By  D.  B.  Dott,  F.R.E.S. 
At  a  former  meeting  of  this  Society  I  contributed  a  paper 2  on  the 
Meconates  of  Morphine,  in  which  I  described  the  normal  meconater 
and  mentioned  that  an  acid  salt  also  probably  existed.    At  that  time 
there  was  some  doubt  as  to  the  basicity  of  meconic  acid.    It  was  gen- 
erally supposed  to  be  tri-basic;  that  is,  the  acid  was  believed  to  con- 
tain in  the  molecule  three  atoms  of  hydrogen  each  replaceable  by  an 
atom  of  a  univalent  radical,  each  of  these  hydrogens  likewise  having 
1  Read  before  the  Pharmaceutical  Society  of  Great  Britain  at  an  evening 
meeting  in  Edinburgh,  Wednesday,  Feb.  16. 
2  Pharrn.  Journ.,  [3],  ix.,  883. 
