-42 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1877. 
The  new  volume  opens  with  a  gratifying  number  of  original  articles,  and  among 
the  contributors  we  are  pleased  to  welcome  not  only  several  whose  names  are  not 
unfamiliar  to  our  readers,  but  also  others  who  offer  their  observations  for  the  first 
time  directly  to  our  readers.  In  examining  the  various  original  papers,  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  majority  have  a  direct  practical  bearing  upon  manipulations  and 
processes  in  almost  daily  use  in  the  store  and  laboratory,  and  are  suggestive  of  fur- 
ther extended  applications.  Scientific  subjects,  of  interest  to  pharmacists,  are  dis- 
cussed in  two  papers,  and  in  another  a  hygienic  question  of  general  importance  re- 
ceives proper  attention.  Of  similar  interest  and  import,  direct  or  suggestive,  will  be 
found  the  various  essays  which  have  been  selected  from  our  cotemporaries,  and  ap- 
pear in  the  present  number,  either  unabridged  or  in  a  condensed  form. 
In  thanking  the  numerous  contributors  to  the  present  and  the  past  issues  of  the 
Journal,  we  would,  at  the  same  time,  request  all  our  readers  to  take  notes  of  their 
observations  with  the  various  officinal  and  unofHcinal  processes,  of  improvements  in 
apparatus  and  manipulations,  of  unexpected  reactions,  in  short,  of  every  occurrence 
.that  may  possess  or  appear  to  possess  some  interest,  and  communicate  the  same  to 
the  editor,  with  the  view  of  laying  them  before  our  readers. 
In  this  connection,  we  desire  also  to  call  the  attention  of  our  friends  to  the  adver- 
tisement of  the  Publishing  Committee  in  relation  to  back  volumes  of  the  Journal. 
It  will  be  observed  that  a  considerable  reduction  has  been  made  for  many  of  the 
volumes  and  single  numbers,  and  many  will  doubtless  find  it  to  their  advantage  to 
complete,  to  some  extent,  their  sets  at  the  low  price  at  which  they  are  offered.  By 
the  use  of  the  excellent  Index,  prepared  by  Mr.  H.  M.  Wilder,  for  the  first  forty- 
two  volumes,  all  the  material  contained  therein  becomes  readily  available.  It  is 
stated  by  the  committee  that  many  of  the  volumes  and  numbers  thus  offered  are  in 
stock  to  a  limited  extent  only,  so  that  the  offers  now  made  are  likely  to  be  with- 
drawn as  the  stock  is  diminished. 
Hydrobromic  Acid. — In  some  papers  by  Dr.  J.  Milner  Fothergill,  originally  pub- 
lished in  the  "  British  Medical  Journal,"  and  recently  reproduced  by  several  med- 
ical journals  in  this  country,  attention  is  drawn  to  the  medicinal  properties  of 
hydrobromic  acid  and  to  a  formula  for  its  preparation,  which  originated  with  Dr. 
Dewitt  C.  Wade,  and  appeared  in  the  "Peninsular  Medical  Journal "  for  February, 
1875.  The  formula  directs  to  dissolve  £x  %v\  gr.xxviii  of  bromide  of  potassium  in 
four  pints  of  water,  and  add  5xiii  3i  gr.xxxvii  of  tartaric  acid  j  bitaitrate  of  potas- 
sium is  produced,  the  greater  part  of  which  crystallizes  out,  and  a  solution  of  hydro- 
bromic acid  in  water,  containing  also  some  potassium  bitartrate,  is  left. 
Although  various  processes  for  the  preparation  of  hydrobromic  acid  directly  from 
bromine  have  been  published  in  former  volumes  of  this  journal  and  in  other  publica- 
tions, the  necessity  of  adopting  various  precautions  to  avoid  accidents  in  consequence 
of  possible  violent  reactions  seems  to  speak  in  favor  of  a  simpler  process,  which 
can  readily  be  followed  even  by  the  unexperienced,  and  though  the  acid  thus 
obtained  may  not  be  chemically  pure  ;  and  such  is  the-  one  recommended  by  Dr. 
Wade. 
By  calculation  from  the  molecular  weights,  it  will  be  found  that  the  potassium 
bromide  is  slightly  in  excess,  which  is  perhaps  rather  an  advantage.  But  a  consid- 
erable difference  in  the  strength  of  the  hydrobromic  acid  will  be  found,  as  the 
weights  and  measures  of  the  British  or  United  States  "Pharmacopoeia"  are  used. 
With  the  former,  the  hydrobromic  acid  obtainable  from  4731  grains  potassium 
bromide  will  be  contained  in  80  fluidounces  imperial  measure  (Oiv  Imp.  Meas.  = 
76A  f^  U.  S.),  which  gives  40}  gr.  HBr  to  the  fluidounce.  Operating  with  the 
weights  and  measures  as  employed  in  this  country  3531  grs.  HBr,  obtainable  from 
51S8  grs.  KBr,  will  be  contained  in  64  fluidounces,  or  5 5 ^  grs.  per  fgi.  In  these 
calculations  the  increase  in  bulk  from  dissolved  compounds  has  been  disregarded. 
