400  Abstracts  from  the  French  Journals.  {AmiugustP£tfm' 
ABSTRACTS  FROM  THE  FRENCH  JOURNALS. 
[Translated  for  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy.] 
Salicylate  of  Lithium. — M.  Julliard,  a  French  pharmacist, 
finding  that  his  solutions  of  this  chemical  soon  changed  to  a  dark 
brown  color,  investigated  the  cause  of  the  alteration,  which  he  explains, 
in  the  Bull.  Comm.  for  June.  Of  six  samples,  obtained  from  large 
drug  establishments,  four  gave  an  acid  reaction  and  two  were  neutral. 
The  latter,  which  were  pure,  turned  of  a  dark  coffee-color  in  six  or 
seven  days ;  the  four  others,  which  he  found  to  contain  salicylate  of 
sodium,  were  found  to  be  colorless  at  the  end  of  thirty  days.  Inves- 
tigation led  to  the  conclusion  that  the  salicylates  of  lithium  sold  to 
pharmacists  contain  from  12  to  15  per  cent,  of  salicylate  of  sodium, 
which  costs  about  one  quarter  the  price  of  the  lithium  salt.  He  sug- 
gests that  when  pharmacists  make  solutions  of  the  pure  (neutral)  sali- 
cylate of  lithium,  they  should  add  a  slight  excess  of  salicylic  acid  in 
order  to  render  the  solutions  stable  and  thus  keep  them  colorless. 
Lithium  Pills  are  proposed  by  P.  Yigier,  (U  Union  Phar.  June) 
to  replace  a  similar  composition  in  fluid  form  recommended  by  Marti- 
neau  for  glycosuria  of  arthritic  origin.  The  formula  is :  Carb.  lith- 
ium 0*10  gm.;  arsen.  sodium  3  mgm.;  ext.  gentian  0'05  gm.;  for  one 
pill  to  be  taken  night  and  morning,  and  continued  until  the  sugar  has 
disappeared  from  the  urine. 
Qualitative  test  for  Sulphites  in  presence  of  Hyposul- 
phites and  Sulphates. — In  treating  neutral  solutions  of  alkali  sul- 
phites with  chloride  of  barium  we  obtain  a  double  decomposition :  K2- 
S03-f Ba  Cl2=Ba  S03-[-2K  CI,  and  the  liquor,  strongly  alkaline  at  first, 
becomes  exactly  neutral.  If  we  treat  a  solution  of  alkali  bi-sulphite  in 
the  same  way  a  neutral  sulphite  of  barium  is  also  formed,  and  half  of  the 
sulphurous  acid  is  set  free:  2KHS03+Ba  C12=2K Cl+Ba  S03-f  H2 
S03.  Therefore  a  mixture  of  alkali  sulphite  and  bi-sulphite  which 
has  a  clearly  alkaline  reaction,  will  contain  free  sulphurous  acid  after 
the  addition  of  chloride  of  barium.  This  suggests  a  quick  method  of 
testing.  It  suffices  to  neutralize  the  mixture  of  sulphites  and  hypo- 
sulphites by  hydrochloric  acid,  being  careful  to  avoid  excess,  and  to 
precipitate  with  chloride  of  barium.  The  sulphurous  acid  will  pass 
over  on  distilling,  and  the  filtrate  may  be  titrated  with  iodine.—  Bull. 
Comm.,  June. 
Neutral  Hydrochlorate  of  Quinine  has  a  great  advantage 
