Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Aug.  1,  1872.  J 
Sa?igui?iaria  Canadensis,  etc. 
349 
eight-ounce  bottle,  and  add  five  fluid-ounces  of  glycerin  ;  cork  well 
and  suspend  in  a  can  of  water,  which  place  on  the  stove  where  the 
heat  will  be  very  moderate ;  leave  it  remain  so  a  day  or  two,  shaking 
the  bottle  frequently  ;  then  strain  through  a  coarse  cloth,  and  re- 
turn the  residue  to  the  bottle  with  three  fluid-ounces  of  glycerin  ;  let 
stand  as  before;  and  then  strain  into  that  first  obtained,  and  make  up 
to  8  fluid-ounces  by  adding  glycerin. 
One  fluid-drachm  of  this  added  to  seven  drachms  of  water  will  make 
milk  of  assafoetida  containing  the  proper  quantity  of  the  drug. 
The  formula,  as  given  above,  1  have  made  use  of  a  number  of  times 
during  the  last  ten  years,  and  have  found  it  to  furnish  at  all  times  a 
good  article  of  milk  of  assafoetida.  I  have  also  used  glycerin  with 
gum  ammoniac,  and  while  the  solution  was  not  as  perfect  as  that  of 
assafoetida,  I  have  found,  upon  examination,  that  the  amount  of  am- 
moniac taken  up  is  about  the  same  as  when  the  mistura  ammoniaci  is 
made  by  the  officinal  formula.  With  myrrh  I  did  not  succeed  well, 
but  still  obtained  a  passable  preparation  which  I  have  no  doubt  could 
be,  by  continued  experiment,  much  improved. 
ON  SOME  CONSTITUENTS  OF  THE  RHIZOME  OF  SANGUINARIA 
CANADENSIS. 
By  Ernest  Peirpoint. 
From  an  Inaugural  Essay. 
The  author  reviews  the  various  chemical  examinations  by  Dana, 
Schiel,  Riegel,  Wayne,  Gibb  and  Newbold,  and  then  relates  his  ob- 
servations. 
In  preparing  sanguinarina,  the  powdered  root  was  digested  in  water 
strongly  acidulated  with  muriatic  acid,  the  liquid  expressed,  filtered  and 
precipitated  with  aqua  ammonia  in  excess.  The  precipitate,  which  was 
of  a  brownish-purple  color,  was  collected  on  a  filter.  The  paper  on  which 
the  precipitate  was  deposited  was  torn  into  small  pieces,  and  digested 
with  alcohol  till  it  would  take  up  no  more  of  the  substance.  The  ob- 
ject of  digesting  with  alcohol  instead  of  at  once  treating  with  ether, 
is  to  save  ether,  which  is  absorbed  by  the  paper  and  magma.  The 
alcoholic  solution  was  then  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  a  small  quan- 
tity of  ammonia  was  added  (to  neutralize  any  acid  absorbed  from 
fumes),  which  changed  it  from  a  deep  blood-red  to  a  light  fawn  color. 
This  residue  was  then  repeatedly  shaken  with  ether,  till  a  small  por- 
tion of  the  solvent  evaporated  on  platinum  foil  left  no  residue,  and 
