2IO 
Laudanum  Assay. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
May,  1893. 
standard  and  obtain  only  19  gallons  2  pints  and  6  ounces  of  finished 
product.  According  to  the  second  assay  it  is  only  necessary  to  add 
2  gallons  of  the  proper  menstruum  and  we  have  22  gallons  of 
finished  product,  a  difference  of  2  gallons  5  pints  and  10  ounces, 
according  to  the  process  employed.  With  laudanum  at  $6  per  gal- 
lon we  would  receive  $16.20  more  or  less,  according  to  the  process 
employed,  for  the  same  product. 
The  process  naturally  chosen  by  the  manufacturer  is  the  one  that , 
yields  the  best  returns  on  the  money  invested,  both  being  legiti- 
mate. 
The  writer  has,  for  sometime,  used  a  modification  of  Dr.  Squibb's 
process1  (which  is  principally  a  modification  of  Prof.  F.  A.  Flucki- 
ger's  original2  design  and  plan)  and  this  has  given  him  more 
satisfactory  results,  with  less  attention,  than  any  other  method  in 
literature  tried  by  him. 
For  example,  quadruple  assays  of  a  sample  of  laudanum,  prepared 
according  to  the  U.  S.  P.  formula,  gave  the  following  results  : 
12  3  4  Mean. 
1-20  p.c.  1-19  p.c.  i'i6p.c.  1-22  p.c.  1*192  p.c. 
Again,  a  sample  of  tincture  of  opium,  prepared  approximately 
and  subsequently  standardized  by  assay  in  quadruples,  gave  the  fol- 
lowing data : 
12  34  Mean. 
1-405  p.c.         1-305  p.c.  1-360  p.c.  1-345  p.c.        1-354  p.c. 
The  purity  of  the  crystallized  morphine  was  verified  by  testing  a 
small  portion  with  lime  water,  in  which  the  alkaloid  is  completely 
soluble  while  the  foreign  matter  is  insoluble  and  subsides  to  the 
bottom  of  the  containing  vessel  when  set  aside  a  few  minutes ;  if 
more  than  a  perceptible  residue  remained,  the  percentage  of 
insoluble  matter  was  estimated  according  to  Dr.  Squibb's  outlines.3 
"  -5  gram  is  weighed  off,  put  into  a  graduated  cylinder  and  50  cc.  of 
lime  water  is  added,  by  pouring  down  the  side  of  the  inclined 
cylinder.  The  contents  of  the  cylinder  are  then  tilted  backward 
and  forward  without  shaking,  so  as  to  avoid  the  formation  of  froth 
1  1889,  Ephemeris,  3,  1150-1164. 
2  1879,  Pharm.  Zeitung,  431  ;  Abstr.,  1882,  Ephemeris,  1,  10,  modified  1885, 
Arch,  der  Pharm.  (3),  26,  254  and  289. 
3  Ephemeris,  3,  1158. 
