126 
i 
Reviews,  etc. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
I      Feb.,  1884. 
to  finely  divided  oil  held  in  suspension.  Clear  and  transparent  medicated 
waters  are  at  once  obtained,  if  the  volatile  oils  be  first  triturated  with  a 
somewhat  absorbent  powder  before  the  water  is  added. 
Most  of  the  substances  which  have  been  recommended  for  this  purpose 
are  mentioned  in  Mr.  England's  paper,  where  also  their  value  for  this 
purpose  is  discussed.  No  -doubt,  calcium  phosphate  is  a  better  material 
for  this  purpose  than  magnesia  or  magnesium  carbonate,  owing  to  the 
insolubility  of  the  former  salt  in  water,  and  the  slow  action  upon  it  of 
large  quantities  of  cold  or  even  hot  water.  But  it  seems  to  us  that  a  pro- 
cess which  was  recommended  ten  years  ago  (Amer.  Jour.  Phar.,  1873,  p. 
564)  has  not  received  the  attention  it  deserves,  namely,  the  so-called  "  hot- 
water  process."  Mr.  G.  C.  Percival,  of  Waterville,  Me.,  showed  that  vola- 
tile oils  dissolve  in  hot  water  to  a  much  larger  extent  than  in  cold  water, 
the  excess  separating  again  on  cooling  and  removable  in  the  usual  manner. 
This  process  was  subsequently  recommended  by  E.  Plummer,  T.  Everhart, 
and  W.  W.  Trout  {Ibid.,  1875,  p.  342,  1877,  p.  4),  and  will  doubtless  be 
found  serviceable  in  many  cases-  But  since  the  composition  and  solubility 
of  volatile  oils  differ  considerably,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  one  and 
the  same  process  may  not  yield  equally  satisfactory  results  with  all  vola- 
tile oils. 
This  belief  is  strengthened  by  a  communication  received  from  a  corres- 
pondent in  New  Zealand  who  desires  from  our  contributors  information  as 
to  the  best  method  for  rendering  soluble  such  essential  oils  as  peppermint, 
cloves,  anise,  sassafras,  gaultheria,  etc.,  and  who  further  states  that  he  has 
succeeded  with  oil  of  lemon  and  of  ginger  by  using  chloride  of  calcium 
and  phosphate  of  sodium,  but  that  the  same  process  is  not  successful  with 
the  essential  oils  enumerated  before.  Our  correspondent  does  not  give  the 
modus  operandi  for  preparing  the  solution  ;  but  a  glance  at  the  volatile  oils 
mentioned  will  show  that  the  different  behavior  is  most  likely  due  to  dif- 
ference in  composition.  We  invite  our  readers  who  have  experience  with 
one  or  more  of  these  volatile  oils  to  communicate  their  experience  to  the 
Journal. 
REVIEWS  AND  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICES. 
Year  Book  of  Pharmacy,  comprising  abstracts  of  papers  relating  to  Phar- 
macy, Materia  Medica  and  Chemistry,  contributed  to  British  and  foreign 
journals,  from  July  1,  1882  to  June  30,  1883,  with  the  Transactions  of  the 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference  at  the  twentieth  annual  meeting,  held 
at  Southport,  September,  1883.  London :  J.  and  A.  Churchill.  8vo,  pp. 
614. 
This  valuable  publication  has  promptly  made  its  appearance  considerably 
in  advance  of  the  similar  preparation  issued  in  this  country.  As  usual  the 
abstracts  which  have  been  made  with  accustomed  care,  are  classified  under 
"  Chemistry,  Materia  Medica  and  Pharmacy,"  and  "Notes  and  Formulae. U 
They  take  up  about  one-half  of  the  book,  the  balance  being  devoted  to  list 
of  members,  minutes  of  the  last  meeting  of  the  Conference  and  the  papers 
read  at  that  meeting.    We  are  pleased  to  note  the  prosperous  condition  of 
