PHARMACY  OF  THE  CINCHONAS. 
527 
more  imperative  in  regard  to  the  nutmeg,  and  the  directing  nut- 
meg to  be  taken  "in  fine  powder  is  a  not  unimportant  mistake 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  since  the  writer's  knowledge,  based  on 
abundant  experience,  is  positive  as  to  the  fact  that  no  nutmeg,  of 
however  low  ordinary  grade  of  quality,  can  ever  be  reduced  to 
fine  powder,  alone,  without  being  "  well  dried,"  and  it  is  equally 
certain  that  this  drying  process  in  oily  and  aromatic  drugs  is 
rather  a  process  of  oxidation  than  of  separating  moisture,  and 
this  oxidation  is  essentially  destructive  in  all  such  cases.  The 
pharmacist,  equally  witn  the  drug-grinder,  who  tries  to  reduce 
nutmeg  to  "  fine  powder,"  or  to  any  degree  of  fineness  useful  as 
a  powder,  will  fail,  in  consequence  of  the  oily  nature  of  the  sub- 
stance ;  and  any  drying  whatever  of  the  coarse  powder  prepara- 
tory to  reducing  it  to  a  finer  powder,  is  not  only  very  wasteful 
of  the  essential  oil  by  evaporation,  but  is  wasteful  also  by  oxid- 
izing it  into  insoluble  resin,  which  powders  easily  enough.  As 
a  deduction,  therefore,  no  pharmacist  should  ever  buy  powdered 
nutmeg,  nor  need  he  attempt  to  powder  it  for  himself.  In  a 
formula  like  the  one  under  consideration,  however,  the  difficulty 
is  easily  overcome  by  crushing  the  nutmeg,  and  then  adding  to 
it  a  portion  of  the  cinnamon  and  ginger  powders,  which  by  their 
absorbent  nature  take  and  hold  the  excess  of  oil  which  obstructs 
the  powdering.  The  Car  dam  on  seed  also  powders  more  easily 
when  mixed  with  these  absorbent  powders,  and  the  resulting 
preparation  is  a  more  intimate  and  perhaps  more  uniform  mix- 
ture of  the  aromatic  properties  of  the  drugs,  than  where  the 
powders  are  simply  rubbed  together  "until  thoroughly  mixed." 
For  these  reasons,  the  following  modification  of  the  officinal 
formula  is  recommended  : — 
Pulvis  Aromaticus — Aromatic  Powder. 
Take  of  True  Cinnamon,  in  fine  powder, 
Ginger,  in  fine  powder,  each  two  troyounces. 
Cardamon,  six  hundred  and  eighty  grains. 
Nutmeg,  a  troyounce. 
Rub  the  Cardamon  and  Nutmeg  into  a  coarse  powder,  mix 
this  with  the  Cinnamon  and  Ginger,  and  then  triturate  the  mix- 
ture in  convenient  portions,  and  pass  it  through  a  sieve  of  sixty 
