500  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  { 
Am.  Jour.  Phartu. 
October,  1899. 
tioii  of  pharmaceutical  ethics  above  a  rational  view  of  practical  medicine,  in 
short,  to  exalt  an  obviously  inferior  over  an  admittedly  superior  preparation. 
This  never  has  been  and  never  will  be  the  design  of  the  Pharmacopoeia." 
If  demonstrated  merit  wins,  the  next  Pharmacopoeia,  by  granting  to  Scopola 
official  recognition,  will  make  ethical  the  employment  of  a  most  valuable  drug 
which  in  every  practical  way  is  an  equivalent  of  Atropa  belladonna ,  at  least  so 
far  as  relates  to  external  preparations.  The  writer  believed  that  the  second 
portion  of  the  query  (viz.,  "Should  the  U.S. P.  change  its  definition  so  as  to 
sanction  the  use  of  the  rhizome  as  an  alternative?  ")  should  have  an  affirma- 
tive answer,  because  the  active  principle,  upon  which  the  therapeutic  action  of 
belladonna  depends,  is  yielded  in  larger  proportion  and  with  greater  uniform- 
ity by  Scopola  than  by  either  the  leaf  or  root  of  Atropa  belladonna,  and  be- 
cause the  results  of  clinical  tests  were  favorable  to  scopola. 
IDENTIFICATION  OF  ORGANIC  SUBSTANCES. 
By  l£.  H.  Bartley. 
The  author  offered  a  scheme  for  the  identification  of  organic  substances 
used  in  pharmacy  and  commonly  met  with  in  commerce.  Beginning  with  the 
inspection  of  general  physical  characters,  the  substance  is  heated  on  a  platinum 
foil,  etc.  The  ultimate  qualitative  composition  is  then  determined  and  the 
group  of  organic  bodies  to  which  the  substance  belongs  is  then  determined. 
DOES  TARAXACUM  CONTAIN  AN  ALKALOID? 
By  A.  von  Zwaluwenburg  and  M.  Gomberg. 
After  treating  the  subject  historically,  the  authors  gave  steps,  first,  in  purify- 
ing solvents  used,  and  then  in  the  extraction  of  the  alkaloidal-like  substance. 
They  obtained  minute  quantities  of  a  substance  which  contains  nitrogen,  gives 
reactions  with  certain  alkaloidal  reagents,  but  is  not  alkaline.  The  substance 
does  not  form  either  amorphous  or  crystalline  salts.  The  authors  expressed  grave 
doubts  as  to  the  presence  of  an  alkaloidal  substance  in  Taraxacum  offici- 
nalis, L. 
PREPARATION  OF  SPIRIT  OF  NITROUS  ETHER. 
By  Joseph  Feil. 
The  process  proposed  requires  about  fifteen  to  twenty  minutes'  time,  and  the 
manipulations  are  such  as  any  one  skilled  in  ordinary  chemical  manipulations 
can  easily  carry  out.  Sodium  nitrite,  30  grammes  ;  sulphuric  acid,  20  grammes  ; 
alcohol,  sufficient.  The  sodium  nitrite  and  300  grammes  alcohol  are  placed  in 
a  liter  flask  with  a  two-hole  cork  or  rubber  stopper  ;  in  one  of  the  openings  is 
placed  a  stoppered  funnel  of  any  description,  the  other  has  a  glass  tube  con- 
nected with  an  upright  condenser  kept  cool  with  running  water. 
The  sulphuric  acid  is  placed  in  the  funnel,  the  mixture  is  then  heated  until 
the  alcohol  is  about  beginning  to  bubble,  the  heat  withdrawn  and  the  sulphuric 
acid  slowly  added  ;  after  action  ceases,  heat  is  again  applied  a  moment  or  two 
and  withdrawn.  A  second  repetition  may  again  cause  an  action  to  begin  ; 
usually  this  does  not  occur,  although  it  is  best  to  try  it. 
The  contents  of  the  flask  are  allowed  to  cool  and  then  filtered  in  a  well- 
covered  funnel  and  alcohol  added  to  make  450  grammes.  It  is,  of  course,  pref- 
erable to  assay  the  filtrate  and  then  dilute,  but  a  large  number  of  experiments 
gave  very  close  results  to  the  quantities  stated. 
