io6 
Rapid  Filtration. 
f  A.m.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\       Mar.,  1878. 
globe  to  an  ordinary  tube  is  that  it  has  an  enlargement  at  the  base  which 
serves  as  a  shoulder,  and  thus  renders  the  apparatus  more  firm. 
The  tube  being  now  placed  in  the 
holder  in  the  same  manner  as  a  test 
tube  would  be  ordinarily  placed,  the 
open  lower  extremity  is  covered  with 
a  piece  of  filter  paper  in  the  follow- 
ing manner,  viz. :  A  circular  or 
square  piece  of  muslin  is  covered  by 
a  similar  piece  of  filter  paper,  and  the 
two  bound  firmly  over  the  open 
lower  extremity  of  the  tube  with  the 
paper  inwards,  and  secured  by  means 
of  a  rubber  band  (such  a  circular  rub- 
ber ring  as  is  used  for  umbrellas 
seems  best  adapted  for  this  pur- 
pose). Should  we  now  fill  the  tube 
with  liquid  it  will  filter  slowly,  and 
we  hasten  it  by  fitting  a  good  velvet 
cork  in  the  upper  extremity  of  the 
glass  tube  or  lamp  globe,  piercing  it  with  a  metal  tube,  and  attaching 
to  this  an  ordinary  rubber  pipe  connected  with  a  bulb,  such  as  are  used 
in  the  small  atomizers  or  syringes.  By  compressing  the  bulb  air  is 
forced  into  the  tube,  and  the  increased  pressure  rapidly  increases  the 
flow  of  filtrate.  By  this  means  an  ordinary  4  oz.  or  8  oz.  mixture  can 
be  filtered  in  a  very  few  minutes,  and  dispensed  with  satisfaction  to  the 
pharmacist  and  of  pleasing  appearance  to  the  patient. 
This  is  not  offered  as  entirely  new,  as  the  credit  of  the  idea  belongs 
to  Messrs.  Sykes  and  Newton,  of  Hartford,  Conn.,  who  have  long 
used  a  similar  apparatus  with  such  evident  success  as  to  make  their 
neighbors  copy  the  same. 
The  apparatus  exhibited  was  manufactured  from  a  lamp  globe  and 
an  atomizer,  the  total  cost  of  the  same  being,  without  including  the 
retort  stand,  the  sum  of  65  cents.  Actual  use  at  the  laboratory  has 
proved  its  utility  in  a  small  way, and  for  such  purposes  it  is  recommended. 
