AVecUi(iP872RM'}  The  Need  of  Practical  Information,  etc.  531 
It  is  nearly  white.  Throw  this  on  a  fine  linen  filter,  and  place  in  a 
porcelain  funnel,  and  pour  on  water,  of  the  temperature  of  180°  F., 
until  the  washings  cease  to  be  affected  by  chloride  of  barium.  Then 
rapidly  fold  up  in  the  linen  filter  and  subject  to  pressure  in  a  press 
until  quite  dry,  and  dissolve  in  the  solution  of  phosphoric  acid  made 
by  dissolving  the  monobasic  phosphoric  acid  in  the  distilled  water. 
Dissolve  the  sulph.  of  quinia  in  six  ounces  of  water  with  dil.  sulph. 
acid,  and  precipitate  by  slowly  adding  ammonia  water  until  the  alka- 
loid is  thrown  down.  Then  carefully  wash  and  dissolve  in  the  solu- 
tion with  the  iron.  Mix  the  alcohol  and  saturated  tincture  of  ignatia 
together.  Rub  the  oil  of  cardamom,  oil  of  caraway  and  essential 
tinct.  of  orange  together  with  the  sugar ;  and,  lastly,  mix  all  the  in- 
gredients and  dissolve  without  heat. 
The  saturated  tinct.  of  ignatia  is  made  by  percolating  16  ounces  of 
alcohol  through  24  ounces  of  finely  powdered  ignatia  bean.  This 
syrup  varies  materially  from  the  syr.  phosph.  iron,  quinia  and  strych- 
nia, and,  while  less  pharmaceutically  perfect  in  its  transparency, 
keeps  much  better. 
Philadelphia,  Nov.  18,  1872. 
THE  NEED  OF  PRACTICAL  INFORMATION  IN  OUR  P  HARM  A 
CEUTICAL  PUBLICATIONS. 
By  Wm.  L.  Turner. 
I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  denying  the  value  and  impor- 
tance of  strictly  scientific  information,  or  as  under-rating  the  fact, 
that  a  thorough  knowledge  of  a  subject  is  the  best  possible  guarantee 
of  the  valuable  results  of  practical  operations ;  but  I  believe  it  is  the 
opinion  of  a  very  large  proportion  of  the  patrons  of  our  pharmaceu 
tical  publications,  that  they  are  getting  so  entirely  scientific  in  char- 
acter, that  practical  details  and  observations  are,  if  not  entirely  lost 
sight  of,  treated  in  such  a  manner  as  to  tend  to  degrade  them  far  be- 
low their  actual  importance.  Indeed  the  tendency  of  late  in  acquir- 
ing as  well  as  imparting  a  knowledge  of  pharmacy  is  entirely  too  the- 
oretical. To  such  an  extent  is  this  true,  that  it  is  by  no  means  a  rare 
thing  to  find  persons  engaged  in  the  vocation,  eminently  well  qualified 
theoretically,  entirely  at  a  loss  when  called  upon  to  carry  out  some  of 
the  simplest  details  of  a  practical  operation.  In  very  many  cases, 
either  a  lack  of  interest  in,  or  a  contempt  for,  those  practical  details 
by  which  alone  even  the  technical  and  strictly  scientific  results  of 
