356  Practical  Notes  from  Various  Sources.    {A™'  j^im™™' 
put  into  capsules.  Or  24  pills  may  be  made  according  to  the 
following  formula  : 
Exsiccated  sulphate  of  iron...   36  grains. 
Anhydrous  carbonate  of  potassium   30  " 
Powdered  sugar  of  milk   25  " 
Pulverized  tragacanth  ,   10  " 
Castor  oil  sufficient. 
The  mass  is  not  easily  rolled  out ;  but  after  the  pills  have  been 
made  two  days  they  may  be  coated  with  gelatin,  and  will  then  keep 
without  any  decomposition  taking  place. 
Standard  e.i  tract  of  belladonna,  containing  2  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloid, 
is  proposed  by  Prof.  Dunstan  and  Francis  Ransom  to  be  prepared  as 
follows  (Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  April  16, 1887,  p.  843) :  macerate 
belladonna  root  in  No.  20  powder,  1  pound,  with  40  fluidounces  of  a 
mixture  of  alcohol  48  fluidounces  and  distilled  water  12  fluidounces; 
after  two  days  transfer  to  a  percolator,  displace  by  adding  the  remain- 
ing liquid,  express,  filter,  mix  and  measure  the  exact  volume  of  the 
tincture,  of  this  evaporate  50  cc.  over  a  water-bath,  until  the  alcohol 
is  dispelled;  dissolve  the  extract  in  5  cc.  of  warm  distilled  water  acidu- 
lated with  dilute  hydrochloric  acid ;  filter  through  a  little  cotton  wool 
into  a  suitable  separator ;  add  ammonia  until  distinctly  alkaline,  and 
agitate  with  5  cc,  and  afterwards  with  3  cc.  of  chloroform.  Mix  the 
chloroformic  solutions  and  agitate  this  with  5  cc,  and  then  with  3  cc. 
of  dilute  hydrochloric  acid  ;  mix  the  acid  solutions,  render  alkaline 
with  ammonia,  and  agitate  as  before,  with  5  cc.  and  3  cc.  of  chloro- 
form. Evaporate  the  chloroformic  liquid,  dry  the  residue  at  200°  F. 
(it  should  then  be  nearly  colorless),  weigh  carefully,  and  calculate  the 
total  amount  of  alkaloid  present  in  the  tincture.  Evaporate  this  to 
dryness  over  a  water-bath  and  add  sufficient  sugar  of  milk  to  make  the 
mixed  product  exactly  fifty  times  the  weight  of  the  total  alkaloid  found 
to  have  been  present  in  the  tincture.  Mix  intimately,  powder  and 
transfer  at  once  to  a  well  stoppered  bottle. 
Purity  of  ether. — The  present  British  Pharmacopoeia  directs  that 
ether  shaken  with  solution  of  potassium  iodide  and  starch  paste  should 
produce  little  or  no  blue  color.  Prof.  Dunstan  and  T.  S.  Dymond 
have  investigated  this  test  (Phar.  Jour.  Trans.,  April  16,  1887,  p.  841), 
and  found  that  ether  prepared  from  sodium  ethoxide  and  ethyl  iodide, 
does  not  liberate  iodine  from  potassium  iodide,  until  after  about  three 
hours  traces  of  it  are  set  free ;  but  hydriodic  acid  at  once  caused  the  liber- 
