606 
Sodium  Silico-Fluoride. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1887. 
The  results  of  the  above  samples  show  that  commercial  wood  alco- 
hol comes  very  close  to  the  requirements. 
No.  1  was  represented  to  contain  97  to  99  per  cent,  of  absolute 
alcohol ;  No.  2,  96  per  cent.,  and  the  percentage  strength  of  No.  3  was 
not  given. 
No.  1  cost  $1.70  per  gallon;  No.  2,  $1.65;  No.  3,  $1.45.  The 
price  for  five-gallon  lots  was  a  few  cents  less  in  each  case. 
As  a  cheap  solvent  in  place  of  grain  alcohol  for  commercial  and 
scientific  uses,  this  alcohol,  as  now  obtainable  in  the  market,  promises 
to  take  an  important  position  ;  and  it  is  evident  that  if  sanctioned  by 
the  United  States  Pharmacopoeia,  it  might  be  used  in  many  pharma- 
ceutical processes,  not,  however,  as  an  ingredient  of  any  preparation 
to  be  administered  internally  while  there  is  any  question  about  the 
effects  of  it  on  the  human  system.  It  also  becomes  necessary  with 
this  improved  solvent  that  pharmacists  see  that  it  is  not  improperly 
used.  More  exact  processes,  than  now  exist,  are  desirable  for  its  detec- 
tion when  employed  as  a  solvent,  especially  if  used  with  the  ordinary 
alcohol  in  the  manufacture  of  tinctures  and  fluid  extracts. 
SODIUM  S I LICO-FLUOEIDE. 
By  Frank  H.  Rosengarten. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  November  15. 
At  the  last  meeting  of  the  British  Association  for  the  Advancement 
of  Science,  held  in  Birmingham,  Mr.  W.  Thomson  read  a  paper  on 
some  experiments  he  had  made  as  to  the  antiseptic  properties  of  some 
of  the  fluorine  compounds.  He  had  previously  been  engaged  in 
endeavoring  to  find  some  substance  which  would  act  as  a  powerful 
antiseptic,  which  was  not  volatile,  and  which  was  not  destroyed  by 
oxidation.  He  experimented,  on  flour  paste  and  on  meat  chopped 
into  small  pieces  and  mixed  with  water,  on  a  very  large  number  of 
chemical  compounds,  and  found  that  those  which  had  the  most  re- 
markable antiseptic  properties  were  the  compounds  of  fluorine,  hydro- 
fluoric acid,  and  the  acid  and  neutral  fluorides  of  sodium,  potassium 
and  ammonium,  and  the  fluosilicates  of  those  bases.  Of  these  com- 
pounds he  found  fluosilicate  of  sodium  the  one  which,  for  general 
purposes  of  an  antiseptic,  was,  perhaps,  the  best  suited.  This  salt  is 
not  poisonous,  has  no  smell,  and  is  sparingly  soluble  in  water.  It  has 
only  a  very  slightly  saline  taste,  and  might,  therefore,  be  employed 
