454  British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  {Ki^l^^\m.' 
SYRUP  OF  BALSAM  OF  TOLU. 
By  E.  H.  Farr  and  R.  Wright. 
The  authors  point  out  that  the  loss  of  volatile  matter  in  the  process  of  boil- 
ing tolu  balsam  with  water,  and  the  subsequent  copious  separation  of  crystals 
appear  to  indicate  that  the  official  method  for  preparing  sj'rup  of  tolu  is  some- 
what defective.    As  the  result  of  experiments  they  find  that  the  official  syrup 
liable  to  vary  considerably,  according  to  the  time  of  year  when  it  is  made,  an 
further  that  the  solution  obtained  on  boiling  the  tolu  with  water  should  be  fil- 
tered as  soon  as  it  reaches  a  given  temperature,  and  immediately  converted 
into  syrup.    Several  samples  of  the  syrup  have  been  prepared  by  different  pro- 
cesses, and  the  authors  suggest  the  replacement  of  the  official  process  by  one  in 
which  the  tolu  is  first  dissolved  in  90  per  cent,  alcohol,  the  solution  added  to 
water  previously  heated  to  700  C. ;  the  mixture  is  shaken  well  and  set  aside  for 
twenty-four  hours,  then  filtered  bright,  and  mixed  with  seven  times  its  volume 
of  simple  syrup.   The  solution  may  be  kept  and  diluted  as  required.    The  crys- 
tals which  deposit  in  cold  weather  dissolving  when  the  bottle  is  removed  to  a 
warm  place. 
THE  STRENGTH  OF  CAPSULES  OF  BLAUD'S  PILLS  OF  COMMERCE. 
By  C.  E.  Stuart. 
The  author  has  had  occasion  to  examine  a  number  of  capsules  containing 
Blaud's  pill,  and  in  each  case  he  found  the  iron  salt  was  rendered  semi-fluid 
by  admixture  with  liquid  paraffin  or  some  other  oily  body.  The  iron  contents 
of  the  capsules  varied  considerably,  but,  judging  from  some  of  the  samples  ex- 
amined, the  author  is  of  opinion  that  the  problem  of  preparing  a  small  and  ac- 
tive Blaud's  pill  capsule  has  as  yet  not  been  satisfactorily  solved. 
FURTHER  NOTE  UPON  FERRUM  REDACTUM  B.P.,  1898. 
By      Saville  Peck. 
The  author  has  compared  his  results  of  the  determination  of  ferrum  redac- 
tum  by  the  methods  of  the  British  and  United  States  Pharmacopoeias  with  those 
of  the  "iodine  method."  He  finds  that  the  mercuric  chloride  and  iodine 
methods  give  almost  similar  results  with  samples  differing  widely  in  percentage 
of  pure  iron,  and,  from  that  fact,  he  thinks  it  may  be  inferred  that  one  corrob- 
orates the  other.  Attention  is  also  again  directed  to  the  fact  that  the  copper 
sulphate  method  invariably  gives  a  higher  reading  than  the  mercuric  chloride 
method,  the  average  difference  varying  in  different  samples,  whilst  the  lower 
the  percentage  of  pure  iron  in  the  sample  the  greater  is  the  difference  in  the 
results  of  the  two  methods.  The  copper  sulphate  method  is,  therefore,  held  to 
be  less  satisfactory  in  use  than  the  other  two  methods. 
THE  ASSAY  OF  BELLADONNA  PLASTERS. 
By  H.  J.  Henderson. 
The  author  gives  the  details  of  a  process  for  assaying  belladonna  plasters 
prepared  in  accordance  with  the  B.P.  formula.  The  plaster  is  allowed  to  dis- 
integrate with  ether  and  the  mixture  is  then  shaken  with  acetic  acid.  Sul- 
phuric acid  is  next  added  to  the  separated  acid  liquor,  the  lead  sulphate  allowed 
to  subside,  and  the  belladonna  extract  separated  from  the  other  constituents  of 
the  plaster.    The  alkaloids  are  then  shaken  out  with  ammonia  and  chloroform, 
