352 
Pharmaceutical  Notes. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1894. 
of  some  pharmacists  adding  only  a  part  of  the  water,  throwing  on 
a  filter  and  then  adding  further  water,  from  time  to  time,  to  the 
contents  of  the  filter  until  the  required  amount  has  filtered  through, 
cannot  result  in  as  strong  a  solution  as  if  the  oil  had  been  brought 
in  intimate  contact  with  all  the  water  at  once. 
There  is  one  detail  whereby  the  official  process  can  be  greatly 
improved,  and  that  is  by  using  in  place  of  the  distilled  water,  hot, 
boiled  water,  i.  e.,  water  boiled  and  cooled  to  a  point  just  short  of 
boiling.  In  following  this  practice,  the  writer  adds  the  water  to 
the  admixed  lime  compound  and  oil,  places  it  in  a  proper  vessel, 
covers  tightly  and  filters  after  it  has  stood  for  some  hours,  prefer- 
ably over  night. 
The  use  of  hot,  boiled  water  has  a  number  of  very  decided  ad- 
vantages. These  are  a  maximum  solution  of  the  oil  and  an  in- 
creased permanency  of  the  water.  Boiled  water  is  far  more  germ- 
proof  than  the  usual  distilled  water  of  commerce,  which  is  believed 
to  be,  in  some  cases  at  least,  simply  condensed  steam-waste. 
Criticism  may  be  made  against  the  use  of  nearly  boiling  water  for 
making  aromatic  waters,  on  the  ground  of  loss  of  volatile  oil,  but 
practical  experience  will  show  that  this  loss  is  more  apparent  than 
real,  that  the  amount  of  volatile  oil  lost  by  volatilization  is  insignifi- 
cant in  comparison  with  the  greatly  increased  amount  brought  into 
solution. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTES. 
By  Clement  B.  Lowe. 
Read  before  the  Pennsylvania  Pharmaceutical  Association,  June  14,  1894. 
Terebenum  or  Terebene  has  come  into  somewhat  extensive  use  as  a 
remedy  for  chronic  bronchitis,  and  it  is  frequently  an  ingredient  of 
cough  mixtures,  or  is  prescribed  by  itself. 
On  account  of  its  slight  solubility  in  water,  and  its  somewhat 
unpleasant  taste,  it  is  best  given  in  an  emulsion. 
The  emulsion  should  be  made  by  the  addition  of  one  drachm  of 
powdered  gum  arabic  for  each  fluid  drachm  of  terebene. 
The  primary  emulsion,  consisting  of  gum  and  water,  should  first 
be  carefully  prepared  and  then  the  terebene  should  be  slowly  and 
carefully  added. 
The  emulsion  will  be  found  quite  a  difficult  one  to  make,  the 
terebene  being  easily  thrown  out  of  solution. 
