80 
Spiritus  AmmoniGe  Aromaticus. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1885. 
hard  to  understand,  unless  the  idea  prevails  that  with  each  new  issue 
of  our  official  book  of  formulas  some  changes  "  must "  be  made,  or 
the  revisers  will  be  accused  of  neglecting  their  duty. 
A  condition  of  the  formula  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1880,  which 
the  writer  did  not  regard  in  making  these  samples,  is  the  use  of 
"  recently  distilled  "  alcohol.  How  many  pharmacists  have  recently 
distilled alcohol,  or  would  be  able  to  procure  it  when  making  aro- 
matic spirit  of  ammonia ;  or  who  would  take  the  trouble  to  make  it 
when  needed  for  such  preparation  ?  This  is  one  of  the  many  absurd 
hindrances  put  in  the  way  of  pharmacists  by  the  revisers  of  the  last 
Pharmacopoeia,  to  discourage  and  in  some  instances  absolutely  prevent 
them  making  their  own  preparations,  except  at  very  great  cost,  and  by 
unnecessarily  complicated  and  tedious  processes,  thereby  encouraging 
them  to  buy  the  ready-made  goods  provided  by  the  host  of  wholesale 
-  druggists  who  supply  all  and  everything  ready  made  that  the  Pharma- 
copoeia contains.  The  simplest  preparations,  such  as  paregoric,  Hux- 
ham's  tincture,  and  such  like,  are  now  supplied  by  the  gallon,  and  at 
prices  in  some  cases,  forced  by  close  competition,  that,  counting  the 
cost  of  ''good"  ingredients,  would  leave  no  margin  or  profit  for  the 
maker. 
The  causes  of  or  advantages  derived  from  the  change  in  the  prepa- 
ration under  consideration  is  wrapped  in  mystery,  as  far  as  the  writer's 
knowledge  goes.    Such  changes  are  an  injury  rather  than  a  benefit. 
To  conform  as  much  as  ])ossible  to  the  official  formula,  the  writer 
has  been  in  the  habit  of  using  that  ordered  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  of 
1880,  using  oil  of  nutmeg  instead  of  oil  of  allspice,  and  disregarding 
the  order  to  use  ''recently  distilled"  alcohol.    The  formula  reads  thus : 
Carbonate  of  ammonium   40  parts 
Water  of  ammonia   100  " 
Oil  of  lemon   12  " 
Oil  of  lavender  flowers   1  " 
Oil  of  nutmeg   1  " 
Alcohol   700  " 
Distilled  water,  q.  s.  ft   1,000  " 
and  you  have  the  result  in  sample  No.  3,  which  has  now  been  made 
over  a  year.  It  has  been  and  is  satisfactory  in  every  way,  and  needs 
no  improvement. 
For  sake  of  comparison,  there  are  here  samples  made  within  the 
past  24  hours  according  to  the  Pharmacopoeias  of  1870  and  1880. 
