248      Pharmaceutical  Colleges  and  Associations.  {AVa°y iim£v' 
read  a  dispensing  note  on  chloro-mercuriate  of  morphia.  Eight  grains  corrosive- 
sublimate  and  four  grains  muriate  of  morphia  were  prescribed  to  be  dissolved  in 
one  ounce  of  water,  to  be  used  for  subcutaneous  injection.  After  the  salts  had 
been  dissolved  in  hot  water,  a  large  deposit  of  silky  acicular  crystals  occurred 
on  cooling,  which  were  recognized  as  the  double  salt  mentioned.  By  using  a 
mixture  of  seven  parts  of  water  to  five  of  glycerin  as  a  solvent,  the  same  salt 
crystallized  in  a  few  days,  and  the  solution,  which  had  been  used  hypodermically 
in  the  meantime,  neither  lessened  the  pain  nor  inconvenience  which  a  simple 
solution  of  corrosive  sublimate  would  have  produced.  A  solution  of  alkaline 
chloro-albuminate  of  mercury  made  from  Staub's  formula,*  but  more  concen- 
trated, was  made  and  found  to  cause  less  pain  and  to  enter  more  readily  into 
circulation  than  a  simple  solution  ;  but  after  some  time  it  became  curdy. 
JVIr.  E.  M.  Holmes  read  a  paper  entitled  Materia  Medica  Notes,  after  which 
Mr.  B  anbury  stated  that  he  had  seen  a  drug  sold  as  arnica  root  which  did  not 
contain  any  arnica  at  all,  but  consisted  entirely  of  a  root  unknown  to  him. 
Dr.  De  Vrij  brought  up  the  subject  of  perchloride  of  iron;  he  objected  to 
have  the  liquor  substituted  for  the  tincture,  and  stated  that  a  really  neutral 
solution  of  the  salt  may  be  obtained  by  passing  chlorine  gently  through  a  solu- 
tion of  ferrous  chloride  and  driving  off  the  excess  of  chlorine  in  a  water-bath  ; 
if  now  mixed  with  alcohol  the  tincture  remains  bright  and  clear  if  exposed  to 
the  sunlight,  but  yields  a  precipitate  if  kept  in  the  dark. 
Prof.  Attfield  expels  the  excess  of  chlorine,  instead  of  by  heat,  by  passing 
through  the  solution  a  steady  current  of  air;  if  the  tincture  is  exposed  to  the 
light,  a  reduction  of  ferric  to  ferrous  chloride  takes  place  and  ethereal  compounds 
containing  chlorine  are  formed.  Alcohol,  therefore,  does  not  preserve  ferric 
chloride,  but  decomposes  it,  and  the  tincture  is  not  a  definite  preparation, 
while  the  aqueous  solution  may  be  kept  for  any  length  of  time  without  spoiling. 
After  some  reference  to  Bestucheff ' s  golden  tincture,  J.  W.  Umney  read  a 
paper  on  the  British  Pharmacopoeia  Addendum,  and  a  discussion  took  place  in 
relation  to  variations  in  different  issues  of  the  same.  Professor  Redwood 
stated  that  the  proposed  additions  had  been  printed  with  the  title  "addendum  " 
merely  for  circulation  among  the  members  of  the  Medical  Council,  whilst  the 
official  publication  has  only  recently  been  issued  under  the  title  of  "Additions 
to  the  Pharmacopoeia." 
*  Staub's  formula  directs  to  dissolve  1-25  grams  each  of  corrosive  sublimate  and  chloride  of 
ammonium,  and  415  grams  chloride  of  sodium  in  125  grams  of  water.  A  solution  of  the  white  of 
one  egg  is  made  in  sufficient  water  to  obtain  125  grams  ;  the  two  solutions  are  mixed  and  filtered.. 
—Journ.  de  Pharm.  et  de  Chim.,1873,  p.  382. 
