Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
July,  1884.  J 
Bismuth  and  Pepsin. 
355 
A  mixture  of  this  acid  salt  with  the  preceding  neutral  one  results 
when  an  excess  of  bismuth  citrate  reacts  upon  the  alkaline  carbonates  as 
already  explained  above.  This  mixture  is  absolutely  permanent  in 
aqueous  solution,  but  the  chief  interest  attaching  to  it  rests  in  the  fact 
that  it  forms  no  insoluble  combinations  with  pepsin.  The  perfect  sta- 
bility of  the  solution  renders  it  the  achieved  desideratum  upon  which 
the  following  process  for  a  perfect  and  permanent  acidulous  solution  of 
bismuth  and  pepsin  is  based : 
Pepsin  saccharated   250  parts. 
Bismuth  citrate   100  " 
Potassium  bicarbonate  sufficient. 
Diluted  chlorhydric  acid  ,   20  " 
Alcohol   1,000  " 
Water  sufficient  to  make   10,000  kl 
Mix  the  diluted  chlorhydric  acid  with  3,000  parts  of  water,  add  the 
pepsin,  and  macerate  the  mixture  for  several  days,  or  until  the  pepsin 
is  dissolved ;  then  add  a  crystal  of  potassium  bicarbonate,  and  when 
effervescence  has  ceased  decant  the  solution.  Mix  the  bismuth  citrate 
and  40  parts  of  potassium  bicarbonate  with  4,000  parts  of  water  and 
heat  the  mixture  until  effervescence  has  ceased  and  filter  the  solution. 
Mix  the  alcohol  with  1,000  parts  of  water  and  add  it  to  the  pepsin 
and  bismuth  solutions  previously  mixed  together,  with  enough  water 
to  make  the  solution  weigh  10,000  parts. 
Remedy  for  Rhus  Poisoning.  —As  this  is  the  season  when 
many  persons  are  making  excursions  into  the  country,  it  is  to  be 
expected  that  there  will  be  many  who  will  suffer  from  poison  con- 
tracted by  contact  with  the  poison  oak.  Various  remedies  have  been 
employed  to  relieve  the  suffering  thus  occasioned,  but  while  one 
remedy  is  advantageous  to  some  persons  it  utterly  fails  with  others. 
Having  learned  of  a  great  number  of  cases  in  which  fluid  extract  of 
serpentaria  has  been  used  with  remarkable  success,  I  thought  it  would 
be  well  to  communicate  the  fact  to  your  journal,  as  I  have  never  seen 
it  noticed  in  medical  or  pharmaceutical  journals.  It  is  best  applied  by 
placing  cloths  moistened  with  the  extract  upon  the  affected  parts,  with- 
out any  friction.    Two  or  three  applications  generally  effect  a  cure. 
T.  S.  Wiegand. 
