AmMryr;Sarm-}       U.  S.  and  Br.  Pharmacopeias.  223 
soluble  than  cocaine  chromate,  both  in  water  and  in  water  acidu- 
lated with  hydrochloric  acid.  The  relative  solubility  of  the  chro- 
mates  in  acidulated  water  is  about  1  to  500  in  the  case  of  cocaine 
chromate,  and  1  to  5,000  in  the  case  of  the  residual  alkaloidal  chro- 
mates. 
I  therefore  offer  the  following  as  a  simple  and  satisfactory  method 
of  determining  the  purity  of  cocaine  salts :  0  05  gramme  cocaine 
hydrochlorate  is  dissolved  in  20  c.c.  of  distilled  water,  mixed  with 
5  c.c.  of  a  3  per  cent,  solution  of  chromic  acid,  and  to  the  mixture 
5  c.c.  of  a  10  per  cent,  solution  of  hydrochloric  acid  are  added.  It 
is  advisable  to  keep  the  temperature  of  the  solution  at  150  C.  If 
the  cocaine  hydrochloride  be  pure  a  clear  solution  will  result.  If 
other  than  traces  of  foreign  coca  bases  be  present  the  solution 
becomes  cloudy  at  once,  or  in  a  few  minutes,  according  to  the 
amount  of  impurity  present. 
It  is  advisable  to  make  the  test  side  by  side  with  a  specimen  of 
known  purity  for  comparison. 
N.  Y.  Quinine  and  Chemical  Works, 
March  27,  1899. 
THE  UNITED  STATES  AND  BRITISH  PH ARMACOPCEIAS. 
By  Ci^meis?  B.  Lowe. 
The  advent  of  the  fourth  British  Pharmacopoeia  (B.P.)  last  year, 
invites  not  only  comment  upon  it,  but  also  comparison  with  the 
Pharmacopoeia  of  our  own  country,  the  U.S.P.,  which  became  official 
January  1,  1894.  Comparisons  have  been  said  to  be  odious,  but 
they  are  not  necessarily  so;  it  depends  entirely  upon  the  motive  in 
making  them,  and  the  way  in  which  they  are  made. 
The  first  comparison  to  claim  our  attention  is  the  authority 
behind  the  books.  The  B.P.  can  claim  to  be  a  strictly  official  work, 
fully  entitled  to  bear  upon  its  cover  the  gold  stamp  of  the  royal 
arms  and  the  words, "  By  Authority,"  as  it  is  issued  pursuant  to  Acts 
of  Parliament  of  1858  and  1862,  The  U.S.P.  can  only  be  regarded 
as  semi-official,  it  never  having  been  recognized  by  any  law  of  the 
land  as  the  supreme  medical  authority  for  the  whole  country,  and 
yet  it  has  been  made  by  Act  of  Congress  a  legal  authority  in  the 
conduct  of  the  Department  of  Customs,  of  the  Army,  Navy  and 
Marine  Hospital  Service,  and  of  the  District  of  Columbia  and  other 
