Alo'ctob!rS!m'}    American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  493 
were  then  dissolved  by  heating  with  about  200  c.c.  of  water,  and 
the  solution  cooled  and  titrated. 
All  methods  which  depend  upon  the  reduction  of  ferric  iron  give 
low  results  when  applied  to  scale  salts ;  moreover,  if  heat  is  used  in 
dissolving  the  salt,  a  further  reduction  of  iron  will  take  place,  espe- 
cially with  the  tartrates,  where  concordant  results  cannot  be  obtained 
unless  the  conditions  under  which  the  salt  is  dissolved  are  always 
the  same. 
In  order  to  determine  the  total  iron  in  scale  salts  it  is  necessary 
to  employ  a  gravimetric  method,  or  to  completely  'oxidize  the 
organic  acid  and  ferrous  iron  before  titration. 
Organotherapeutic  Products,  with  Special  Reference  to  the 
Standardization  of  Thyroid  Preparations. 
By  F.  C.  Koch. 
The  author  concludes  that  there  are  no  chemical  or  physiological 
quantitative  methods  for  testing  thyroids.  Of  Hunt's  physiological 
method,  he  says :  "  It  is  by  far  more  delicate  than  any  chemical  means 
we  know  of,  but  so  far  it  has  not  been  perfected  as  a  quantitative 
method.  Thus,  Hunt  finds  that  the  susceptibility  of  mice  depends 
largely  upon  their  age,  weight  and  the  nature  of  their  food,  also  that 
0*3  gramme  U.S.P.  desiccated  thyroids  fed  for  twelve  days  did  not 
seem  to  have  a  proportionately  different  effect  from  feeding  o-i 
gramme  for  ten  or  eleven  days,  or  0-05  gramme  for  fourteen  days. 
Let  us  hope  that  Hunt's  very  delicate  method  can  be  devised  to  be 
of  value  in  a  quantitative  way." 
The  U.S.P.  Methods  for  Assaying  Pepsin  and  Pancreatin. 
By  F.  C.  Koch. 
The  author  commented  on  these  methods  as  follows :  The  direc- 
tions are  deficient  as  to  important  details.  In  assaying  pepsin, 
unnecessary  delay  after  boiling  the  eggs  and  passing  the  albumen 
through  the  sieve  must  be  avoided.  Disintegration  with  acid  water 
must  be  thorough,  shaking  by  rotation  being  more  satisfactory  than 
by  inverting.  The  final  method  of  reading  is  very  unsatisfactory. 
The  peptonizing  test  for  pancreatin  is  entirely  unsatisfactory.  As 
the  test  now  stands,  a  weak  or  strong  pancreatin  can  be  considered 
official,  depending  upon  the  amount  of  nitric  acid  used.  In  the 
diastasic  assay  the  kind  of  starch  to  be  employed  should  be  speci- 
