Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
( Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\  November,  1900. 
eral  oil  (so  called).  He  has,  however,  succeeded  in  getting  a  fair 
lard  lately.  The  doctor  of  to-day,  he  said,  generally  prescribes  an 
ointment  according  to  his  own  ideas,  and  as  a  base  a  number  write 
for  petrolatum,  while  others  prescribe  certain  proprietary  ointments. 
Professor  Kraemer  remarked  that  there  was  one  feature  in  con- 
nection with  the  subject  which  had  not  been  referred  to,  and  that 
was  the  influence  of  temperature  in  making  ointments;  that  in  a 
series  of  experiments  recently  published  by  Messrs.  Kahlenberg  and 
Ruschaupt  an  ointment  made  at  a  higher  temperature  contained 
a  greater  amount  of  the  oleate ;  that  zinc  ointment,  for  instance, 
when  made  at  1 500  C.  contained  a  greater  amount  of  zinc  oleate. 
These  same  authors  showed  that  lanolin  was  the  best  base  in  mak- 
ing ointments,  and  that  lard  with  wax  (as  in  ceratum)  was  an 
improvement  on  lard  alone.  * 
Replying  to  the  several  speakers,  Mr.  Wilbert  said  that  he 
admitted  in  the  paper  that  physiological  experiments  would  indicate 
that  many  drugs  are  more  readily  absorbed  from  a  base  made  up 
of  animal  fats,  especially  one  containing  water.  On  the  other  hand, 
he  still  held  that  this  question  is  an  open  one  from  a  practical  stand- 
point. From  years  of  experience  he  believes  that  drugs,  especially 
those  readily  soluble  in  water,  when  made  into  a  solution  and  incor- 
porated into  an  ointment  in  which  petrolatum  is  used  as  the  base, 
will  be  quite  readily  absorbed.  Water  appears  to  play  a  very 
prominent  part  in  the  absorption  of  drugs  from  ointments,  and  he 
said  that  from  1-5  per  cent,  of  water  can  be  readily  added  to  a 
petrolatum  ointment. 
In  regard  to  petrolatum  of  the  U.5.P.,  there  would  seem  to  be 
but  little  necessity  of  continuing  this  preparation  under  two  distinct 
titles.  The  manufacturers,  as  a  rule,  furnish  a  petrolatum  that  con- 
forms as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  requirements  of  both  titles,  having 
a  melting  point  of  about  45 0  C,  and  seldom  varying  more  than  2° 
either  way.  This  insures  a  solid  ointment  in  even  the  warmest 
weather,  and  one  that  does  not  become  hard  or  brittle  at  ordinary 
winter  temperatures. 
In  referring  to  lard  he  did  not  mean  to  say  that  it  was  impossible 
to  obtain  a  pure  lard,  but  that  the  lard  obtained  by  the  druggist 
through  his  usual  source  of  supply,  the  butcher  or  grocer,  did  not 
come  up  to  the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
In  regard  to  making  the  official  ointment  of  nitrate  of  mercury, 
