AmMayri8P8?arm'}       Emulsion  of  Chloroform  and  Ether.  233 
EMULSIONIZING  OF  CHLOROFORM  AND  ETHER 
WITH  GUM  ARABIC. 
By  T.  S.  Wiegand. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  April  19,  1887. 
Having  frequent  occasion  some  time  since  to  prepare  mixtures  of 
chloroform  with  gum  arabic  I  was  much  annoyed  by  the  customer  com- 
plaining that  it  was  not  always  the  same  strength  when  I  was  positive 
that  the  prescription  was  dispensed  by  a  careful  and  skillful  operator; 
this  was  only  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  escape  of  the  chloroform  ow- 
ing to  its  great  volatility  while  being  emulsionized.  Seeking  to  avoid  the 
complaint  I  was  led  to  try  a  number  of  experiments,  and  tried  mixing  it 
in  the  method  so  successfully  adopted  for  emulsions  of  oil  of  tur- 
pentine, viz.  :  that  of  putting  the  powdered  gum  in  a  dry  bottle,  pour- 
ing on  the  chloroform,  shaking  them  thoroughly,  and  then  adding  the 
water  with  constant  shaking.  While  this  completely  mixes  the  chlo- 
roform it  does  not  remain  as  a  full,  well-mixed  emulsion,  but  separates 
into  two  layers,  a  white  thick  one  which  contains  the  gum  and  chloro- 
form and  a  clear  thin  one  mostly  of  water  only.  When  making  a  mix- 
ture containing  ether  the  result  was  quite  different,  the  gum  being  put, 
as  before,  in  a  dry  bottle,  the  ether  added  and  lastly  the  water — an 
emulsion  was  effected  very  quickly  and  it  was  nearly  transparent ;  upon 
standing  a  separation  took  place,  the  gum  and  ether  rose  to  the  surface 
as  a  transparent  layer  and  under  it  the  water ;  these  were  very  easily 
mixed  by  simply  shaking  and  a  complete  suspension  of  the  ether  was 
effected. 
The  advantages  of  this  process  are  two-fold,  the  rapidity  by  which 
it  can  be  effected,  and  the  certainty  of  the  mixture  being  always  uni- 
form. 
This  process  is  almost  identical  with  one  proposed  by  Prof.  Parrish 
and  printed  on  page  189  of  volume  A.  J.  P.  for  1872. 
In  this  connection  it  is  well  to  state,  for  the  benefit  of  the  younger 
pharmacist,  that  in  those  cases  where  a  large  number  of  drops  of  very 
volatile  liquid  is  ordered,  that  it  is  better  to  drop  some  even  part  of  the 
number  into  a  minim  measure  and  note  the  number  of  minims  and 
then  measure  the  proper  quantity,  as  in  this  Avay  the  danger  of  mis- 
takes in  counting  is  avoided  and  also  the  loss  that  occurs  by  evapora- 
tion while  counting. 
