Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec,  1884. 
Sodium  Borobenzoate. 
615 
naturally,  a  place  among  the  fanciful,  but  will  attract  the  attention  of 
the  younger  members  of  the  medical  fraternity  by  its  novelty.  The 
elders,  we  imagine,  will  want  it  but  seldom,  unless  it  can  be  demon- 
strated that  it  has  something  of  utility  in  it.  As  a  placebo  it  may 
divert  the  infant  by  sweetening  the  coming  tooth,  but  that  it  will 
assuage  or  mitigate  the  pain  of  that  sometimes  painful  process,  denti- 
tion (if  that  be  the  purpose  and  intention  of  the  preparation),  readers 
will  pardon  the  writer  for  doubting. 
Philadelphia,  November  15,  1884. 
SODIUM  BOROBENZOATE. 
By  Thos.  S.  Wiegand,  Ph.G. 
Having  had  occasional  prescriptions  for  borobenzoate  of  sodium, 
and  being  unable  to  find  a  formula  in  the  commoner  treatises  on  chem- 
istry, I  obtained  the  following  formulas  from  friends  who  had  used 
them,  and  offer  them  for  publication. 
For  making  the  salt  (said  to  be  taken  from  "  Johnson's  Medical 
Formulary) : 
Take  of  Borate  of  sodium   3  oz. 
Benzoate  of  sodium  ,   4  oz. 
Water,  sufficient  to  dissolve. 
Make  a  solution  of  the  salts  in  the  water,  and  evaporate,  with  con- 
stant stirring,  to  dryness.  One-sixth  of  these  proportions  yields  an 
ounce. 
Or, 
To  a  hot  solution  of  borax  add  benzoic  acid  sufficient  to  saturate  it,  and 
evaporate  to  dryness. 
The  latter  formula  would  seem  preferable.  The  salt  is  prescribed 
in  12-  or  15-grain  doses,  given  with  tonics. 
The  following  prescription  has  been  used  by  Dr.  D.  H.  Agnew,  of 
this  city,  and  evidently  contains  the  same  salt,  although  made  extem- 
poraneously : 
R    Sodii  biboratis   gii 
Acidi  benzoici   £iss 
Spir.  juniperi  
Syr.  hypophosphitum  aa  fSjli 
M. 
Sig.  A  tablespoonful  3  times  daily. 
