5 1 2  Calcii  Phosphas  Pr<ecipitata.  {Am'oJc°tU,ri8P7h7arm* 
Extract  from  i  fluidounce,  15*  15'  16*  15*50  23*25  28*75  3°"  32'  37*  39'5o  grs. 
Morphia      "  "         4*    3-75    3-    3-25    2-       1*75     r     j-     -5  trace. 
Opium  of  officinal  strength  should  yield  3*75  grains  of  morphia  per 
fluidounce  of  laudanum.  While  some  of  the  samples  come  up  to  this 
requirement,  it  is  noteworthy  that  they  fall  short  in  the  amount  of 
extractive  matter  as  usually  met  with  in  Smyrna  opium  ;  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  plain  that  at  least  one-half  of  these  tinctures,  which  are 
very  deficient  in  morphia,  were  artificially  colored,  with  the  view  of 
imparting  an  appearance  of  strength  which  they  did  not  possess. 
Another  series  of  experiments  with  laudanum  sold  at  retail  was 
made  by  Mr.  Burt  P.  Gates,  who  determined  the  specific  gravity  at 
6o°F.  by  means  of  a  1000-grain  bottle,  and  made  two  morphio-metric 
assays,  following  Staples'  process  with  some  modifications  ;  his  results 
are  tabulated  as  follows  : 
Specific  Gravity. 
•965    -952  -962  -956  -958  -955  -953  -949  -956  -943  -947  -956  -939  -950  *88l 
Morphia  per  fluidounce. 
3*85    3*70  3*54  3*39  2*96  2*62  2*77  2-46  2*16  2-08  2*00  1  85  1*63  1-39  077 
Percentage. 
10-3      9-9    94    9'°    7*8    7*o    74    6-6    57    5-6    5-3    4-9    4-4    37  2*1 
Only  three  of  these  samples  can  be  assumed  to  have  been  made 
from  well  dried  opium  ;  five  appear  to  have  been  made  from  imper- 
fectly dried  or  from  more  or  less  moist  opium  ;  the  remaining  seven, 
of  which  five  are  also  deficient  in  density,  have  apparently  been  made 
of  less  opium  than  officinally  directed. 
CALCII  PHOSPHAS  PRiECIPITATA. 
By  Ed.  Hirschsohn. 
It  having  been  for  a  long  time  a  desideratum  to  find  a  process  the 
product  of  which  fulfills  the  following  conditions  :  constant  composi- 
tion, crystalline  texture,  easily  soluble  in  diluted  acids  of  about  the 
strength  of  the  gastric  juice  (for  instance  0*03  per  cent,  muriatic  acid), 
and  the  largest  possible  yield,  Dr.  DragendorfT  induced  Hirschsohn  to 
examine  into  the  merits  of  the  different  methods. 
After  mentioning  that  Stoeder  and  Opwyrda  came  to  the  result  that 
the  "calcined  bones"  process  (see  among  others  the  United  States 
Pharmacopoeia)  gives  a  somewhat  satisfactory  product  only  by  precipi- 
tating the  strongly  acid  solution  with  ammonia  in  slight  excess,  and  that 
