6o6 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I  December,  1900. 
matter  of  interest  and  aroused  quite  a  discussion.  Mr.  E.  M.  Bor- 
ing said  that  the  process  suggested  by  Mr.  Gordon  was  very  similar 
to  one  originated  by  Mr.  Rother,  who  suggested,  however,  the  "use 
of  spermaceti  and  vaselin  (this  Journal,  1883,  p.  76).  This  process 
was  subsequently  applied  by  Mr.  Sloan,  of  Indianapolis,  who  reported 
that  in  the  examination  of  a  preparation  made  from  an  opium  assay, 
ing  1 3  per  cent,  the  finished  tincture  only  contained  7  per  cent,  of 
alkaloids.  Mr.  Rother  subsequently  showed  that  the  loss  in  alka- 
loids was  apparently  due  to  the  manner  of  manipulation. 
Mr.  Cliffe  asked  if  the  process  suggested  using  paraffin  in  place 
of  ether  removed  the  narcotin  and  other  objectionable  principles 
as  ether  does.  In  reply  Mr.  Gordon  said  that  he  had  not  tested 
the  finished  preparation  in  this  way,  but  the  sample  which  he  sub- 
mitted  prepared  by  this  method  would  indicate  that  the  objection- 
able principles  were  removed.  Dr.  Lowe  said  that  the  fact  that 
laudanum  had  certain  disagreeable  effects,  while  the  deodorized 
tincture  of  opium  had  not,  led  us  to  consider  narcotin  to  be 
the  deleterious  principle.  Mr.  Gordon  remarked  that  from  his 
own  personal  experience  narcotin  did  not  seem  to  cause  nausea,  as 
he  had  himself  taken  one-half  grain  of  narcotin  without  suffering 
any  ill  effects,  which  led  him  to  believe  that  the  objectionable  prin- 
ciple was  probably  of  a  volatile  character. 
Mr.  Cliffe  said  that  from  the  discussion  it  would  seem  that  a 
denarcotized  opium  should  be  used  in  the  manufacture  of  all  opium 
preparations.  Mr.  David  H.  Ross  asked  if  there  was  any  objection 
to  using  denarcotized  opium  placed  on  the  marked  by  manufacturers 
in  the  preparation  of  tinctura  opii  deodorati,  and  remarked  later  in 
the  discussion  that  when  one  took  into  consideration  the  time  and 
material  required  in  making  the  official  preparation  it  was  no  more 
expensive  than  the  official  method.  Mr.  Cliffe  remarked  that  in 
his  experience  a  tincture  made  from  denarcotized  opium  was  not  as 
satisfactory  as  that  made  by  the  official  process.  Mr.  Boring  said 
that  he  once  obtained  a  denarcotized  opium  which  made  a  prepara- 
tion that  had  an  exceedingly  disagreeable  odor. 
Mr.  Gatchel  asked  why  old  opium  pills  do  not  seem  to  nauseate 
patients,  and  said  that  he  knew  several  physicians  who  desired  pills 
of  opium  that  had  been  made  for  some  time.  Mr.  Wiegand  said 
that  when  he  was  in  the  navy  yard  in  Brooklyn  the  oldest  opium 
in  stock  was  used  for  making  the  pills.    It  was  incidentally  re- 
