Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Jan.,  1877.  I 
Aqua  Medicate. 
7 
AQXJJE  MEDICATE. 
By   George  W.   Kennedy,  Ph.G. 
(Read  at  the  Monthly  Meeting  of  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy ',  Dec.  jth.) 
The  process  of  medicated  waters  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  when  pre- 
pared in  strict  accordance  with  the  directions,  is  not  only  pharmaceu- 
tically  objectionable,  but  also  therapeutically  and  chemically.  I 
propose  to  take  up  cinnamon  water,  discussing  it  briefly,  and  pointing 
out  the  objections. 
1st.  When  freshly  prepared,  it  is  rather  pleasing  in  appearance  to 
the  eye,  but  in  a  short  time  it  changes,  becoming  to  a  certain  extent 
turbid ;  precipitation  soon  takes  place,  and  an  appreciable  amount  of 
deposit  is  formed  at  the  bottom  as  well  as  on  the  sides  of  the  bottle  in 
which  it  is  kept,  thus  rendering  it  unsightly  and  displeasing  to  a  phar- 
macist who  takes  pride  in  his  preparations. 
2d.  The  precipitation  is  not  of  so  much  importance  therapeutically, 
since  the  water  is  scarcely  ever  given  for  its  medicinal  virtues,  although 
it  certainly  possesses  some  when  properly  prepared,  owing  to  its  pleasant 
aromatic  and  carminative  properties,  its  principal  employments  as  an 
adjuvant  to  other  medicines,  the  taste  of  which  it  masks  and  disguises 
satisfactorily. 
3d.  The  chemical  objection  to  the  ordinary  process  with  carbonate 
of  magnesium,  is  that  the  deposit  spoken  of  above  consists  of  cinna- 
mate  and  carbonate  of  magnesium.  The  cinnamic  acid  being  the 
result  of  oxidation  of  the  oil  which  consists  principally  of  cinnamic 
aldehyd  (C9HsO)  and  variable  proportions  of  hydrocarbon,  the  oil 
being  of  such  a  composition  that  it  readily  absorbs  oxygen  from  the 
atmosphere,  thereby  becoming  contaminated  with  resin  and  cinnamic 
acid. 
The  principal  objection  to  medicated  waters,  prepared  with  magnesia, 
when  prescribed  with  the  salts  of  the  alkaloids,  is  that  precipation  of 
the  bases  takes  place,  thus  making  it  very  dangerous  to  the  patient  who 
may  get  an  overdose  at  any  time. 
Mr.  Thomas  H.  Powers  as  early  as  1833  ("Am.  Jour.  Pharm.") 
called  attention  to  the  solubility  of  magnesia,  and  recommended  the  addi- 
tion of  a  small  quantity  of  acid  to  prevent  precipitation.  Since  then  over 
forty-three  years  have  passed  away,  and  this  very  important  matter  has 
been  t©  a  very  great  extent  overlooked,  at  least  by  the  framers  of  the 
