AmMay^8h7arm'}  Bland's  Pills.  235 
In  addition  to  the  above  formulae  it  appears  to  be  a  very  common 
practice  to  use  one  or  other  of  the  many  concentrated  liquors  which 
are  added  to  simple  syrup  in  the  proportion  of  1  to  4.  It  is  impossible 
to  have  a  syrup  answering  to  the  official  specific  gravity  by  this  method , 
and,  so  far  as  I  have  seen,  the  syrups  so  made  are  either  very  deficient 
in  flavor,  or  possess  a  flavor  other  than  the  correct  one. 
It  had  often  occurred  to  me  that  the  balsam  might  be  sufficiently  ex- 
hausted by  cold  maceration,  if  the  tolu  was  in  a  fine  state  of  division,, 
and  the  syrup  completed  without  the  application  of  heat ;  and  the  fol- 
lowing is  the  result  of  a  few  experiments  by  way  of  putting  this  idea 
to  the  proof.  I  proceeded  as  follows  : — 
Take  of— 
Balsam  of  tolu    ljoz. 
Finest  loaf  sugar  2  lbs. 
Water  . —  16  ozs. 
Reduce  the  balsam  to  powder  by  trituration  with  8  ozs.  of  the  sugar. 
Place  them  in  a  bottle  with  the  water,  and  macerate  for  forty-eight 
hours  with  occasional  agitation.  Then  filter  through  paper  till  bright, 
and  dissolve  the  remainder  of  the  sugar  in  the  filtrate.  This  is  best 
done  by  crushing  (not  powdering)  the  sugar,  placing  it  in  a  percolator 
and  passing  the  filtrate  through.  The  result  is  a  clear  and  very  full 
flavored  syrup,  which  I  think  compares  favorably  with  the  product 
of  any  other  published  formula.  It  takes  slow  percolation  to  dissolve 
all  the  sugar  unless  the  percolator  is  placed  in  a  moderately  warm 
place,  but  it  might  be  worth  considering  whether  so  large  a  proportion 
of  sugar  is  necessary.  It  is  also  a  little  difficult  to  completely  clarify 
the  syrup,  and  any  suggestion  in  that  direction  would  be  an  improve- 
ment.— Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  March  26,  1887.,  p.  785. 
BLAUD'S  PILLS. 1 
By  W.  Duncan. 
Three  months  ago  the  query,  "  What  is  the  best  method  for  mak- 
ing Blaud's  Pills ?"  was  put  to  me  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  our 
Association,  and  knowing  that  great  diversity  of  opinion  exists 
among  us  as  to  the  "best"  method  of  preparing  the  same,  I  thought 
the  subject  a  very  suitable  one  for  a  short  paper.    Having  procured 
1  Read  before  the  Edinburgh  Chemists'  Assistants'  Association.  Reprinted 
from  Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans  ,  March  19, 1887,  p.  775. 
