Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
November,  1896.  J 
Abstracts  from  Theses; 
609 
ide,  then  the  percentage  of  this  ingredient  by  proportion  to  the 
weight  of  powdered  tablets  taken. 
The  small  amount  of  ammonia  in  the  licorice  was  disregarded. 
If  the  ammonia  and  chlorine  exist  in  the  tablets  only  as  ammonium 
chloride,  it  is  obvious  that  the  results  of  the  foregoing  operations 
should  be  identical.  Of  course,  if  it  is  desired  to  ascertain  the 
number  of  grains  of  ammonium  chloride  in  each  tablet,  the  num- 
ber of  tablets  taken  should  be  noted,  the  tablets  then  weighed,  af- 
terwards powdered  and  an  aliquot  part  of  the  powder  taken  for 
each  analysis,  so  that  the  answer  may  be  obtained  by  dividing  the 
number  of  grains  equal  to  the  grammes  of  ammonium  chloride 
found  by  the  number  of  tablets  represented  by  the  aliquot  part 
used. 
ASSAY  OF  FLUID  EXTRACT  OF  COCA. 
Kingsley  C.  T.  Schneider,  Ph.G.,  assayed  eight  fluid  extracts  of 
coca.  After  some  preliminary  experiments  it  was  found  that 
Lloyd's  process  gave  the  best  results  of  the  several  methods  tried. 
The  green  coloring  matter  was  separated  by  dissolving  the  crude 
alkaloid  in  acidulated  water  and  filtering ;  the  alkaloid  was  there- 
after extracted  by  making  alkaline  with  ammonia  water  and  shaking 
with  chloroform,  which,  upon  evaporation,  left  the  alkaloid.  To  pre- 
serve the  accuracy  of  the  process  10  c.c.  of  the  fluid  extract  were 
used  for  each  assay.  The  following  results  were  obtained:  0-535, 
0-485,  0-675,  0-655,  0-625,  0-370,  0-335  and  0-675  per  cent.  These 
figures  indicate  the  difference  in  the  strengths  of  this  preparation 
as  found  in  the  market  of  the  United  States. 
ASSAY  OF  TINCTURE  OF  NUX  VOMICA. 
Olive  C.  Johnson,  Ph.G.,  assayed  sixteen  samples  of  this  prepa- 
ration by  the  official  method.  Five  of  these  were  from  manu- 
facturing houses  and  eleven  from  retail  druggists  in  Philadelphia. 
The  former  of  these  showed,  respectively,  0-33,  0-31,  0-31,  0  27  and 
0-24  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids.  Of  the  eleven  samples  from  retail 
stores,  one  was  made  by  the  1870  United  States  Pharmacopoeia 
formula  ;  it  contained  a  large  amount  of  oil  and  only  0-16  per  cent, 
of  alkaloids;  three  were  made  by  the  1880  United  States  Pharma- 
copoeia method ;  they  contained  oil  and  resin  ;  their  strengths  ranged 
from  0-20  to  0  30  per  cent,  of  alkaloids.  One  was  made  from  a  con- 
centrated preparation  of  a  manufacturer ;  it  was  practically  free  from 
