364       National  Formulary  as  a  Legal  Standard.     { ^miujust  Pi9wnn' 
The  note  to  stronger  solution  of  ammonium  citrate  tells  us 
41  liquor  ammonii  citratis  (B.P.)  may  be  prepared  from  this  solu- 
tion by  mixing  I  volume  of  it  with  4  volumes  of  water."  As  the 
liquor  ammonii  citratis  (B.P.)  contains  125  grammes  of  citric  acid 
in  ioqo  c.c,  a  preparation  five  times  as  strong  should  contain  625 
grammes  citric  acid  in  1000  c.c,  and  not  560  grammes  as  directed. 
The  solutions  of  the  organic  salts  of  iron  originated  in  Germany 
very  largely  from  the  excellent  work  of  Dietrich,  and  good  formulas 
for  a  number  of  these  popular  remedies  were  long  ago  published  in 
41  Dietrich's  Manual."  The  liquor  ferri  albuminati  is  official  in  the 
German  Pharmacopoeia,  and  as  a  flavoring,  cinnamon  water  and 
aromatic  tincture  are  there  directed.  These  are  more  efficient 
flavors  for  the  iron  salts  and  less  prone  to  change  than  the  aromatic 
elixir  substituted  by  the  National  Formulary. 
Mistura  oleo-balsamica,  our  old  German  friend  Hoffmann's 
balsam  of  life,  has  the  German  Pharmacopoeia  title  as  a  synonym, 
but  the  formula  is  changed  from  that  of  the  G.P.  by  the  introduc- 
tion of  oil  of  orange  flowers  and  the  substitution  of  oil  of  cloves 
for  eugenol,  and  the  proportions  of  balsam  of  peru  and  oil  of  cinna- 
mon are  also  changed. 
In  the  formula  for  "  infused  oils,"  a  suostitution  of  equal  parts  ot 
lard  oil  and  cotton-seed  oil.  for  olive  oil  cannot  be  too  strongly  con- 
demned, as  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  such  mixtures  of  oils  rapidly 
undergo  change  and  become  rancid.  As  if  to  make  the  substitution 
more  positive,  the  note  attached  advises  :  "  The  above  process  is  to 
be  used  for  the  preparation  of  oleum  hyoscyami  of  the  G.P.  and 
similar  infused  oils."  An  equally  reprehensible  and  totally  unwar- 
ranted substitution  is  the  use  of  the  French  Codex  title,  balsamum 
tranquillans  as  a  synonym  for  compound  oil  of  hyoscyamus  (N.F.), 
and  the  note  states  :  "  The  baume  tranquille  (balsamum  tranquillans) 
of  the  Codex  is  a  more  complex  preparation,  not  identical  with  the 
above,  but  possessing  about  the  same  properties."  I  cannot  con- 
ceive  that  this  was  an  intentional  sophism. 
Pulvis  Gummosus  (G.P.)  is  given  as  a  synonym  for  Pulvis  Acaciae 
Compositus  (N.F.),  but  the  ingredients  are  present  in  different  pro- 
portion. 
Under  the  title  Pulvis  Cretse  Aromaticus,  a  formula  is  given  con- 
taining 6  parts  of  saffron,  and  the  note  to  this  formula  states:  "  This 
preparation  is  equivalent  to  the  Pulvis  Cretse  Aromaticus  of  the 
B.P."    This  authority  adds  the  following  note :  "  If  a  product  of 
