AmMi?chJ899.rm'}  Official  Fluid  Acids.  141 
One  gramme  of  the  anhydrous  salt  yields  07861  of  a  gramme  of 
lithium  sulphate,  or  the  amount  of  lithium  sulphate  multiplied  by 
1-272  gives  the  equivalent  of  lithium  citrate. 
The  average  of  the  above  results  is  somewhat  below  the  present 
pharmacopoeial  requirement.  This  may  be  due  to  a  possible  loss 
during  incineration,  for  it  was  noticed  that  when  a  flame  was  held 
above  the  capsule  during  the  first  portion  of  the  operation,  a  crimson 
coloration  was  imparted  to  it.  This  is  also  the  case  with  the  am- 
monium sulphate  process,  and  simple  ignition  of  any  organic  lithium 
salt.  As  is  well  known,  a  very  minute  quantity  of  lithium  imparts 
a  crimson  color  to  the  flame.  The  gases  evolved  in  the  first  por- 
tion of  the  operation  apparently  carry  off  enough  of  the  lithium 
compounds  to  produce  this  coloration.  Whether  the  amount 
evolved  is  weighable  or  not  has  yet  to  be  determined. 
35  Poplar  Street,  Philadelphia. 
v-  — 
EXAMINATION  OF  SOME  OFFICIAL  FLUID  ACIDS. 
Contribution  from  the  Chemical  Laboratory  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of 
Pharmacy.    No.  18  r. 
The  purity  and  strength  of  medicine  is  always  a  matter  of  inter- 
est to  both  the  physician  and  pharmacist.  For  this  reason,  it  has 
been  the  custom  in  the  Chemical  Laboratory,  during  several  years 
past,  to  have  students  examine  samples  of  official  medicines  dis- 
pensed by  pharmacists,  in  order  to  ascertain  how  closely  these  agree 
with  the  pharmacopoeial  requirements  of  purity  and  strength. 
The  samples  referred  to  in  the  present  contribution  were  pur- 
chased from  wholesale  and  retail  druggists  in  Philadelphia.  In 
each  case,  the  official  article  was  asked  for.  The  results  of  the 
examinations  serve  to  indicate  the  variations  in  quality  to  which 
such  simple  and  inexpensive  medicines  are  liable,  while  the  knowl- 
edge of  such  variations  from  the  official  standards  emphasizes  the 
necessity  of  the  retail  pharmacist  testing  his  purchases  and  products 
in  order  that  he  may  supply  the  public  with  medicines  of  uniform 
purity  and  strength. 
Josiah  C.  Peacock, 
Director. 
Acidum  Aceticum. — -Robert  T.  Berry,  P.D.,  examined  twelve 
samples  of  acetic  acid.    All  of  the  samples  corresponded  to  the 
