Am'/a°n.aF94arm'}   Revision  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia.  17 
the  crown  of  the  root  usually  contains  tufts  of  hair  from  the  base 
of  the  pubescent  stem. 
The  solubility  of  Resin  of  Podophyllum  is  erroneously  stated  on 
p.  338.1  On  p.  340,  Pale  Rose  is  stated  to  be  an  ingredient  in 
Syrupus  Sarsaparillae  Compositus,  but  it  is  not  mentioned  in  the 
formula  given  for  this  preparation  ;  as  it  has  no  other  use  it  might 
have  been  omitted. 
Sugar  of  Milk  should  be  accompanied  by  tests  for  such  adulter- 
ants as  starch  and  glucose,  and  should  be  required  to  be  free  from 
fat  and  casein.  The  tests  should  likewise  state  the  percentage  of 
ash  allowable,  and  supply  other  tests  for  inorganic  salts  apt  to  be 
present  from  the  water  used  in  its  preparation. 
In  order  to  insure  uniformity  of  product,  the  formula  for  Sapo 
Mollis  should  require  a  definite  yield  of  product. 
Scutellaria  is  stated  to  be  50  cm.  long  ;  most  of  that  in  the  market 
will  be  20  to  25  cm.  and  broken.  We  are  again  told  on  p.  349 
that  argel  leaves  "  are  frequently  present  "  in  Alexandria  Senna,  and 
a  description  is  attached  to  detect  this  adulterant.  For  ten  years 
past  the  writer  has  been  examining  commercial  senna  for  this  adul- 
terant, but  has  not  yet  been  successful  in  finding  it. 
Tests  are  wanted  for  detecting  chloride  and  bromide  in  Sodium 
Iodide.    Sodium  Nitrate  is  not  sufficiently  used  to  be  retained. 
Sodium  Nitrite  is  a  new  addition,  introduced  as  the  source  of 
nitrogen  dioxide  in  the  new  official  process  for  spirit  of  nitrous 
ether.  It  is  required  to  contain  not  less  than  97-6  per  cent,  of  the  pure 
salt  a  degree  of  purity  hard  to  obtain  in  the  commercial  salt.  The 
price  at  which  the  chemically  pure  salt  is  now  sold,  $2.50  to  $3  per 
kilo,  precludes  its  use  for  this  purpose.  The  commercial  article 
prepared  for  the  use  of  the  dyer  while  not  attaining  the  official 
purity  will  probably  be  found  to  answer.  It  is  likely,  however,  to  be 
contaminated  with  both  lead  and  arsenic. 
To  the  official  Spirits  there  are  four  additions,  Spirit  of  Bitter 
Almond,  Compound  Spirit  of  Orange,  Spirit  of  Glonoin  and  Spirit 
of  Phosphorus,  and  one  dismissal,  Perfumed  Spirit  or  Cologne 
Water  of  1880.  Spirit  of  Nitrous  Ether  is  required  to  yield  when 
assayed  by  the  nitrometer  method  4  per  cent,  of  pure  ethyl  nitrite. 
The  process  for  the  manufacture  of  this  spirit  is  again  changed  ; 
1  Experiments  by  the  writer  to  decide  this  point  are  not  completed,  but 
will  be  reported  later. 
