AmMay?i899arm"}    Recent  Literature  Relating  to  Pharmacy.  229 
or  1 ,333  grains,  and  distilled  water  a  sufficient  quantity  to  make 
1  pint.  The  alternative  formula  is  sulphuric  acid  82-7  c.c.  (or  1 52*4 
grammes)  and  distilled  water  a  sufficient  quantity  to  make  1,000 
c.c.  In  the  U.S.P.  we  are  simply  directed  to  use  100  grammes 
sulphuric  acid  and  825  grammes  distilled  water. 
The  present  B.P.  follows  in  the  footsteps  of  its  predecessor  in  con- 
taining doses  of  the  preparations  and  of  certain  of  the  crude  drugs, 
this  apparently  not  having  worked  injuriously  to  British  physicians. 
In  the  United  States  the  physicians  have  thus  far  opposed  what 
they  consider  a  decidedly  dangerous  innovation.  The  tests  for 
identity  and  purity  of  the  individual  chemicals  in  the  B.P.  are  not 
nearly  so  numerous  as  in  the  U.S.P.,  but  in  the  appendix  is  given  a 
concise  series  of  "  tests  for  substances  mentioned  in  the  text,"  e.  g.> 
Tests  for  the  Acetates,  Bromides,  etc. 
Thirty-two  articles  have  been  introduced  into  the  B.P.  which 
were  previously  official  in  the  U.S.P.,  but  this  is  more  than  offset  by 
the  fact  that  forty-three  were  dismissed. 
In  the  appendix  of  the  B.P.  are  some  alternative  preparations  for 
use  in  India  and  the  Colonies  where  there  are  prevailing  high  tem- 
peratures. If  the  authority  of  the  U.S.P.  shall  be  extended  to  our 
new  colonial  possessions,  similar  allowances  will  also  have  to  be 
made. 
It  should  be  stated,  in  conclusion,  that  the  new  B.P.  is  a  very 
creditable  work,  a  marked  improvement  upon  its  predecessor,  but 
we  think  the  U.S.P.  compares  quite  favorably  with  it  even  though 
it  antedates  it  nearly  five  years. 
RECENT  LITERATURE  RELATING  TO  PHARMACY. 
PERU  BALSAM 
H.  Thorns  (Berichte  d.  Deutsch.  Pharm.  Ges.t  1898,  264)  presents 
a  comprehensive  article  on  the  above  subject.  After  a  thorough 
historical  review  of  the  chemistry  of  the  balsam  and  especially  of 
the  methods  of  assay  suggested  by  Gehe  &  Co.  [Handelsbericht., 
Apr.,  1895,  5; -and  K.  Dieterich,  Ber.  d.  D.  Pharm,  Ges.,  1897,  437)> 
he  reports  an  investigation  of  three  absolutely  authentic  specimens, 
and  agrees  with  the  authors  mentioned,  that  the  qualitative  nitric 
acid  test  should  be  replaced  by  an  assay  based  on  the  percentage  of 
cinnamein  and  the  ester  number  of  the  same. 
