Am  jour.  Pharm.  i     Lead  in  Medicinal  Zinc  Oxide. 
Aug.  19 17.  J 
353 
In  syrup  of  calcium  lactophosphate  and  in  syrup  of  hypophos- 
phites,  the  addition  of  50  mils  of  glycerin  to  the  liter  adds  materially 
to  the  stability  of  these  syrups. 
In  syrup  of  wild  cherry,  we  note  a  return  to  the  method  of  adding 
the  glycerin  to  the  first  portion  of  the  menstruum  instead  of  to  the 
percolate.  While  this  procedure  may  yield  a  deeper  colored  syrup 
that  may  be  richer  in  tannin,  it  is  doubted  if  this  should  be  the  proper 
aim  and  it  is  questioned  whether  the  hydrocyanic  acid  content  is  not 
actually  diminished. 
In  the  ointments,  a  few  changes  are  noteworthy.  Such  minor 
changes  as  those  made  in  belladonna  ointment  and  in  diluted  mer- 
curial ointment  are  readily  understood  and  will  cause  little  comment. 
In  diachylon  ointment,  white  petrolatum  is  substituted  for  olive  oil, 
which  yielded  an  ointment  of  too  fluid  a  consistence.  Ointment  of 
phenol  is  reduced  from  3  per  cent,  phenol  to  about  2  per  cent,  and 
ointment  is  directed  as  the  base  instead  of  white  petrolatum.  The 
changes  made  in  the  formula  may  cause  some  trouble  with  customers 
to  whom  it  may  be  difficult  to  explain  the  difference  in  the  appear- 
ance of  carbolic  ointment. 
The  elimination  of  all  wines  from  the  Pharmacopeia  was  prob- 
ably due  to  a  misunderstanding  of  the  requirement  of  the  Brussels 
International  Protocol.  Physicians  will  continue  to  prescribe  the 
wines  of  antimony,  colchicum,  ipecac,  etc.,  and  pharmacists  will 
furnish  these  as  heretofore.  In  the  formula  for  compound  mixture 
of  glycyrrhiza,  the  substitution  of  the  equivalent  amount  of  tartar 
emetic  dissolved  in  water  for  the  wine  of  antimony  is  directed  and 
this  was  the  only  change  in  the  official  formulas  necessitated  by  the 
deletion  of  the  class  of  wines  from  the  Pharmacopeia. 
LEAD  IN  MEDICINAL  ZINC  OXIDE.1 
By  Charles  H.  La  Wall. 
Zinc  oxide  has  been  a  medicinal  substance  of  importance  for 
several  hundred  years.  It  was  official  in  the  first  U.  S.  P.  with  a 
method  of  preparation  from  the  metal,  which  would  give  a  modern 
pharmacist  something  to  exercise  his  professional  skill  upon,  if  he 
1  Read  at  the  annual  meeting  of  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tion, June  14,  1917. 
