\Jn0.T;iP8?r}      New  Solvent  of  Phosphorus,  etc.  23 
eary  for  having  prepared  the  medicine  badly.  Several  years  ago  I 
first  suggested  using  a  solution  of  wheat  starch,  in  the  proportion  of 
one  drachm  to  four  ounces,  in  the  stead  of  gum,  and  to  my  gratifica- 
tion it  was  at  once  adopted  as  a  decided  improvement  by  many  physi- 
cians. The  suspension,  I  admit,  is  not  permanent,  yet  the  separation 
is  very  gradual,  and  simply  upturning  the  bottle  promptly  restores 
the  desired  condition.  For  charcoal  mixtures,  half  a  drachm  of 
starch  to  four  ounces  will  be  sufficient.  If  a  sweetener  is  to  be  added, 
glycerin,  for  obvious  reasons,  will  be  found  to  answer  better  than 
sugar. — New  Orleans  Med.  and  Surg.  Journal.  Sept.  1,  1873. 
A  NEW  SOLVENT  OF  PHOSPHORUS  ;  ITS  PREPARATION  AND 
PHARMACEUTICAL  USE. 
By  A.  W.  G-errard, 
Dispenser  aud  Teacher  of  Pharmacy  to  the  University  College  Hospital. 
The  principal  known  and  most  generally  adopted  solvents  of  phos- 
phorus and  pharmaceutical  purposes  are  bisulphide  of  carbon,  chloro- 
form, ether,  alcohol,  oil  of  almonds,  oil  of  theobroma,  and  mutton 
suet. 
The  power  of  these  bodies  to  dissolve  this  element  varies  from  any 
proportion  to  less  than  half  per  cent.  ;  the  most  powerful  being  bi- 
sulphide of  carbon,  the  least,  alcohol. 
Most  of  the  above  solutions  of  phosphorus,  when  dispensed,  are  of 
an  unsatisfactory  and  unstable  character.  Those  which  are  fluid  and 
miscible  with  water  in  the  presence  of  mucilage — the  manner  in  which 
it  is  usually  prescribed — are  rapidly  decomposed  and  become  inert; 
they  are  likewise  nauseous  and  objectionable  to  the  patient  in  an  ex- 
*  treme  degree.  The  solid  forms  are  but  little  better  and  are  exceed- 
ingly troublesome  to  manipulate. 
Bisulphide  of  carbon  has  been  recommended  by  Mr.  Proctor,  of 
Newcastle,  as  a  means  of  dispensing  phosphorus  in  the  pill  form,  and 
it  answers  the  purpose  very  well,  with  the  exception  that  the  pills  re- 
tain a  compound  smell  of  phosphorus  and  bisulphide  of  carbon,  which 
is  repulsive  in  the  utmost  degree. 
The  new  substance  which  I  propose  to  add  to  the  list  of  sol- 
vents of  phosphorus  is  resin,  that  body  described  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia as  the  "  residue  of  the  distillation  of  the  turpentine."  This 
substance  suggested  itself  to  me  amongst  others  as  a  probable  solvent, 
