Am  .Jour.  Pharm.  1 
April,  1878.  J 
Benxoic  Acid  in  Pharmacy. 
169 
a  yield  of  20*6  per  cent,  from  colocynth,  which  had  been  kept  for  three 
years  in  a  dry  store-room.  This  large  yield  was  doubtless  due  to  the 
more  complete  drying  of  the  fruit.  The  important  influence  of  the 
moisture  naturally  contained  in  drugs  on  the  quantitative  yield  is  often 
not  sufficiently  taken  into  account,  but  may  be  readily  gleaned  from 
the  paper  by  Mr.  G.  W.  Kennedy  in  "Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  1874,  p.  1  74. 
BENZOIC  ACID  IN  PHARMACY. 
By  B.  Archer. 
Within  the  past  two  or  three  years  the  comparative  merits  of  the 
various  anti-ferments  have  been  pretty  thoroughly  discussed,  and  the 
result  has  been  to  place  benzoic  acid  first  on  the  list.  At  present  its 
use  i,s  limited  to  only  a  few  officinal  preparations,  but  there  is  no  doubt 
it  may  be  advantageously  used  in  quite  a  number.  In  the  next  revision 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia  I  would  suggest,  among  the  additions,  that  of 
benzoic  acid  water  (gr.  iv  to  Oi)  and  its  substitution  for  water  in  such 
syrups,  infusions,  decoctions  and  mixtures  as  are  specially  prone  to  decom- 
position. The  instances  in  which  there  could  be  objection,  either 
chemical  or  therapeutical,  to  such  substitution,  would  be  rare,  as  it  is 
harmless  and  will  not  materially  affect  the  taste,  odor  or  color  of  the 
preparations.  While  benzoic  acid  in  the  small  quantity  here  suggested 
will  not  make  very  instable  preparations  permanent,  it  will  so  increase 
their  stability  that  they  may  be  kept  as  long  as  it  is  usually  desired  to 
keep  them.  Some  have  recommended  salicylic  acid  as  an  antiseptic, 
but  this  will  not  do  for  general  use  on  account  of  the  color  imparted  to 
mixtures  containing  the  salts  of  iron,  and,  besides,  as  an  anti-ferment 
it  is  not  the  equal  of  benzoic  acid. 
I  have  found  the  benzoic  acid  water  especially  useful  in  preparing 
solutions  for  hypodermic  use.  The  small  vials  of  such  solutions  carried 
in  the  pockets  of  physicians,  and  thus  kept  at  a  high  temperature  soon 
undergo  change  unless  protected  by  some  antiseptic.  It  may  not  be 
out  of  place  to  say  just  here  that  physicians,  who  do  not  have  daily  use 
for  their  hypodermic  syringes,  are  often  annoyed  by  the  packing  becom- 
ing dry,  and,  consequently,  so  contracted  that  the  piston  will  not  work 
smoothly  in  the  barrel.  This  annoyance  may,  to  a  great  extent,  be 
overcome  by  the  addition  of  a  few  drops  of  glycerin  to  each  fluid- 
ounce  of  hypodermic  solution. 
