*"jiiyX StT }     Oleates  of  Mercury  and  Morphia.  317 
5.  The  crystals  of  niethylic  oxalate  were  freed  from  adhering  liquid 
as  far  as  could  be  done  by  pressure,  the  mass  was  liquified,  and 
as  it  cooled, 
Crystals  first  appeared  at  ,  .      98°  F. 
The  liquid  became  thick  with  crystals  at         .      97°  F, 
6.  These  crystals  were  dried  as  before,  and  then  fused  and  cooled. 
Crystals  began  to  form  at       .  .  .    128°  F. 
"      became  thick  at        .  .  127°  F. 
It  thus  appears  that  the  melting  point  of  the  crystals,  if  they  have 
been  dried  on  blotting  paper,  is  precisely  the  same  whether  prepared 
from  methylic  alcohol  nearly  pure,  or  containing  about  ten  per  cent, 
of  ethylic  alcohol.    So  that  no  inferences  can  be  drawn  from  this. 
When  the  crystals  have  been  simply  squeezed,  the  congealing  point 
appears  to  be  lower  when  ethylic  alcohol  has  been  present,  and  when, 
consequently,  the  liquid  which  moistens  the  crystals  contains  ethylic 
oxalate.  But  it  seems  evident  that  the  congealing  point  will  depend 
quite  as  much  upon  the  purity  of  the  wood-spirit,  so  that  two  operators 
working  with  the  same  materials  would  be  apt  to  get  quite  different 
results. 
Accordingly,  the  congealing  point  attained  at  (5)  compared  with  the 
table  would  indicate  the  presence  of  3-4  per  cent,  of  ethylic  alcohol, 
whereas  there  was  present  about  ten  per  cent.  This  conclusion  is  to 
be  regretted,  as  the  method,  if  reliable,  would  have  been  valuable, — 
Amer.  Journ.  Set.  and  Arts,  May,  1872. 
OLEATES  OF  MERCURY  AND  MORPHIA. 
In  a  Clinical  Lecture  recently  delivered  by  Professor  John  Mar- 
shall, F.R.S.,  in  the  University  College  Hospital,*  he  drew  attention 
to  the  fact  that  mercurial  ointment,  which  is  itself  the  basis  of  other 
mercurial  preparations,  is  merely  a  mechanical  mixture  of  minute 
globules  of  mercury ;  and  said  that  he  had  long  thought  that  if  a 
solution  of  mercury  in  some  oleaginous  or  unctuous  medium  could  be 
employed,  more  immediate  and  satisfactory  results  would  be  obtained 
from  the  well-known  therapeutical  powers  of  this  ancient  remedy.  In 
seeking  for  his  object  he  first  dissolved  some  of  the  perchloride  of 
mercury  in  a  small  quantity  of  ether,  and  added  to  it  about  four  times 
*  Reported  iu  the  "  Lancet/'  May  25th,  1872. 
