288 
EDITORIAL. 
perfectly  easy  to  prepare  an  aqueous  solution  with  a  quarter  of  a  grain  to 
the  table-spoonful,  by  aid  of  spontaneously  generated  hydriodic  acid,  as 
before  alluded  to,  its  administration  in  this  form  to  children  of  scrofulous 
habits,  where  iodine  treatment  is  to  be  long  persisted  in,  is  certainly  a 
safe  and  eligible  method. 
Dr.  Anders'  remarks  in  reference  to  what  we  said  about  sweet  spirits  of 
nitre  and  iodide  of  potassium  he  had  better  have  omitted,  as  he  has 
totally  misunderstood  our  meaning  and  aim. 
Finally  we  will  remark  that  Dr.  Anders'  declaration,  in  his  concluding 
paragraph,  that  "iodine  is  never  wholly  dissolved  by  aid  of  iodide  of  potas- 
sium, hydriodic  acid,  etc.,"  is  entirely  incorrect  and  unchemical ;  such  sol- 
vents have  no  analogy  to  the  alcohol  in  tincture  of  iodine,  which  by  mixture 
with  water  necessarily  loses  its  solvent  power,  and  suffers  the  iodine  to  be 
precipitated  in  a  solid  form,  whilst  in  the  other  cases  no  amount  of  dilution 
causes  them  to  precipitate  the  iodine. 
Dr.  Bache  (U.  S.  Disp.  10  Edit.  413-1341)  so  far  from  disapproving  of 
these  solvents,  quotes  Dr.  Buchanan,  of  Edinburg,  to  show  that  hydriodic 
acid  is  the  best  form  to  exhibit  iodine  to  get  its  specific  effects  without  irri- 
tation, and  that  iodine  taken  in  a  free  state  becomes  hydriodic  acid  in  the 
stomach  by  contact  with  organic  matter. 
Dr.  Wood  (Therap.  and  Pharmacol,  ii.  p.  342)  says,  "  the  probabilities 
are  that,  when  swallowed,  or  brought  in  any  other  way  in  contact  with  the 
fluids  of  the  body,  it  undergoes  changes  through  the  reagency  of  the  alka- 
line salts  which  it  encounters,  by  which  a  portion  of  it  is  converted  into 
iodide  of  potassium  or  sodium,"  &c,  and  further  on  he  says,  "so  that  it  would 
seem  impossible  for  iodine  to  enter  the  blood  in  its  uncombined  state." 
Thayer's  Solid  Extracts. — Dr.  Henry  Thayer,  of  Boston,  has  sent  to  us 
specimens  of  Extracts  of  Taraxacum,  Juglans,  Uva  Ursi,  Humulus  Hyoe- 
cyamus,  Belladonna  and  Conium,  all  of  which  are  marked  "  by  displace- 
ment— in  vacuo,"  which  we  presume  means  that  the  substances  were  ex- 
tracted by  displacement  and  the  solutions  evaporated  in  vacuo.  The 
appearance  of  these  extracts  is  good.  Their  consistence  rather  soft  for 
making  pills,  though  convenient  for  some  other  purposes  of  pharmacy. 
The  Taraxacum  has  a  brown  color  and  decided  odor  of  the  bruised  root, 
with  a  fair  proportion  of  its  bitterness.  There  is  probably  no  extract 
that  varies  so  much  as  made  at  different  times  and  by  different  manufac- 
turers. The  extract  of  Conium,  so  far  as  can  be  judged  by  appearance, 
taste,  odor  and  chemical  tests,  is  of  excellent  quality,  but  we  have  had  no 
opportunity  to  have  it  or  any  of  the  others  tried  therapeutically.  The 
Belladonna  and  Hyoscyamus  are  made  from  the  imported  leaves.  All  of 
the  labels  have  the  abbreviation  "  Purif."  attached  to  the  name  ;  as,  for 
instance  "  Ext.  Conii  Purif."  We  suppose  this  is  intended  to  indicate 
that  they  are  pure  extracts  and  not  purified  extracts  as  the  affix  indicates, 
which  might  mean  that  they  are  made  from  materials  requiring  purifica- 
tion. The  samples  are  enclosed  in  queensware  jars,  and  are  neatly  put  up. 
j 
