218  Hydrocyanic  Acid  as  a  Medicine.  {AVa7i',wi?M' 
Of  all  the  samples  tested  not  one  proved  of  standard  strength  ;  even 
IsTo.  1,  from  a  first  class  house,  was  below  two  per  cent.  This  failing 
should  be  considered,  in  connection  with  the  uncertainty  of  the  drop- 
dose,  in  this  case  a  matter  of  the  utmost  importance,  and  too  often  lost 
sight  of.  The  vials  in  which  hydrocyanic  acid  usually  comes  have  thick 
necks  and  often  no  lip  at  all,  and  are  about  as  awkward  for  dropping 
as  they  could  be  made  ;  this  reminds  of  a  label  which  I  could  never 
comprehend  clearly  ;  it  reads  :  "  Hydrocyanic  acid,  minimum  dose, 
one  drop."  How  a  minimum  dose  could  be  limited,  considering  the 
infinitesimals  of  Homoeopathy,  can  scarcely  be  imagined. 
Would  it  not  be  preferable  to  state  the  maximum  dose,  or,  if  this 
he  not  desirable,  call  it  the  dilute  hydrocyanic  acid  of  the  U.  S.  P., 
or  say  simply  that  the  contents  are  the  two  per  cent.  acid.  But  if  all 
these  objection  had  been  removed,  and  the  most  scrupulous  accuracy 
observed  by  the  manufacturer,  the  most  essential  point,  i.  e.,  the 
•stability  of  the  preparation,  is  not  assured,  nor  is  it  even  claimed  by 
any  of  the  modes  of  preparation  or  preservation  ;  there  is  then  but 
one  alternative  left,  which  is,  in  fact,  pointed  out  by  the  Dispensa- 
tory. It  is  noted  that  the  more  concentrated  the  hydrocyanic  acid, 
the  more  it  is  inclined  to  chemical  changes.  Here  then  would  be  a  way 
out  of  this  dilemma,  viz.,  to  exhibit  this  medicine  in  a  more  dilute 
form.  To  do  this  and  not  multiply  preparations  would  be  very  feasible, 
and  I  should  think  very  satisfactory  to  physicians.  This  course  has  been 
adopted  in  the  latest  German  Pharmacopoeia  (vide  Deutsche  Reichs 
Pharmacopoe)  in  which  hydrocyanic  acid,  as  such,  has  been  dismissed, 
and  the  "Aqua  amygdalarum  amararum  concentratum"  directed  to  con- 
tain one-tenth  of  one  per  cent,  of  anhydrous  hydrocyanic  acid.  This 
being  then  just  one-twentieth  the  strength  of  our  officinal  dilute  two 
per  cent,  acid,  a  proportion  at  once  convenient  and  admitting  of  pos- 
itive measurement,  one  scruple  contains  one  minim  of  our  present  of- 
ficinal acid,  and  in  this  condition  it  is  yet  sufficiently  strong  for  all 
practical  purposes.  It  may  be  contended  that  bitter  almond  water  is 
also  prone  to  change,  which  to  some  extent  is  true,  but  if  kept  in  a 
dark  bottle  and  in  a  dark  place  it  will  certainly  keep  for  six  months, 
and  I  know  of  one  sample  that  retained  its  full  strength  for  one  year. 
Our  present  bitter  almond  water  made  with  the  essential  oil,  as  well 
as  the  hydrocyanic  acid,  would  then  be  displaced  by  a  valuable  and 
reliable  preparation,  for  if  the  oil  of  bitter  almonds  possess  any  medi- 
cinal virtue,  the  carbonate  of  magnesium  will  be  pretty  certain  to 
remove  it. 
