1 14  Potassium,  Sodium  and  Ammonium  Salicylates.  {Am^arU%878arm* 
exposed  in  the  doctor's  house,  all  others  being  out  of  reach,  so  that 
she  could  not  have  taken  any  other  kind. 
After  the  above  was  written,  in  conversation  with  one  of  our  lead- 
ing physicians,  I  was  informed  that  he  had  a  patient  (a  young  man, 
eighteen  years  old)  suffering  from  sore  throat,  and  chlorate  of  potas- 
sium was  prescribed  in  five-grain  doses.  From  the  time  the  first  dose 
was  taken  until  the  medicine  was  stopped  the  patient  was  suffering 
from  gastritis,  vomiting  freely  after  each  dose.  When  they  ceased 
administering  the  medicine  the  patient  recovered  from  the  attack  of 
inflammation  of  the  stomach,  thus  proving  conclusively  that  the  chlo- 
rate was  the  cause  of  the  trouble. 
POTASSIUM,  SODIUM  and  AMMONIUM  SALICYLATES. 
By  Nathan  Pennypacker. 
Read  at  the  Alumni  Meeting,  February  7,  1878. 
Salicylic  acid  is  dibasic,  forming  acid  and  neutral  salts ;  but  the  neu- 
tral compounds  with  sodium,  potassium  and  ammonium  have  not  yet 
been  obtained,  and  none  but  the  acid  compounds  of  the  other  elements 
were  known  previous  to  1855. 1 
The  great  difficulty  in  making  the  compounds  of  salicylic  acid  with 
alkalies  is  found  in  the  tendency  of  the  solutions  to  become  dark  on 
exposure  to  air.  This  can  in  great  part  be  obviated  by  mixing  a  por- 
tion of  the  acid  with  water,  and  without  the  aid  of  heat,  adding  the 
acid  potassium  or  sodium  carbonate  so  long  as  there  is  effervescence, 
or  ammonium  hydrate  in  slight  excess,  evaporating  rapidly  to  dryness, 
dissolving  in  alcohol,  pouring  off  the  clear  liquid,  and  evaporating  it  to 
dryness.  The  result  in  every  case  will  be  a  fine  white  crystalline 
powder. 
To  insure  success  too  long  exposure  to  the  air  must  be  avoided,  and 
the  liquid  must  be  clarified  by  decantation  rather  than  by  filtration,  as 
by  the  latter  process  the  solution  becomes  dark  colored,  either  from 
exposure  or  from  the  organic  matter  in  the  filter. 
The  evaporation  must  be  conducted  on  a  water-bath,  as  at  a  higher 
temperature  there  is  danger  of  decomposition,  with  formation  of  phe- 
nol.   The  advantages  claimed  for  the  use  of  the  carbonate  instead  of 
1  Salicylates  of  the  alkalies  were  described  by  Procter  and  Cahours  as  early  as 
1843. — Editor. 
