Am.  Jour,  Pharm. 
Feb.,  1891. 
Table  of  Atomic  Weights. 
IOI 
I  made  a  set  of  pills  with  anhydrous  protochloride  of  iron  and 
anhydrous  lanolin,  and  kept  them  under  observation.  They  were 
rolled  in  liquorice  powder.  When  first  made  the  pills  were  fairly 
hard  and  looked  quite  satisfactory.  In  the  course  of  a  few  days, 
however,  they  became  quite  moist  and  very  unsightly  externally, 
at  the  same  time  assuming  an  olive-brown  color.  If  the  pill  be 
cut  in  two,  it  is  seen  that  internally  the  mass  is  still  unchanged, 
but  the  softening  gradually  penetrates  deeper  into  the  mass  till 
the  whole  becomes  quite  pasty  in  consistence. 
I  made  a  second  set  of  pills  and  coated  them  well  with  san- 
darach  varnish,  but  this  appeared  to  have  little  effect  in  prevent- 
ing the  change. 
As  the  result  of  some  experiments  I  would  suggest  that  these 
pills  should  be  made  with  some  absorbent  powder,  such  as  liquo- 
rice or  althaea,  and  beat  into  a  mass  with  a  small  quantity  of  some 
inert  extract.    The  following  formula,  I  find,  does  very  well : 
Anhydrous  protochloride  of  iron,  3  grains. 
Powdered  liquorice,   .  .  1  grain. 
Extract  of  liquorice,  ,  1  grain. 
Mix  to  make  one  pill. 
The  only  objection  to  this  method  is  the  size  of  the  pill,  but  this 
is  counterbalanced  by  its  better  keeping  properties. 
TABLE  OF  ATOMIC  WEIGHTS. 
(Issued  December  6,  1890.)  . 
By  request  of  the  Committee  of  Revision  and  Publication  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  of  the  United  States  of  America,  Prof.  F.  W.  Clarke, 
Chief  Chemist  of  the  United  States  Geological  Survey,  has  fur- 
nished a  Table  of  Atomic  Weights,  revised  upon  the  basis  of  the 
most  recent  data,  and  his  latest  computations.  The  Committee  has 
resolved  that  this  table  be  printed  and  furnished  for  publication  to 
the  professional  press.  The  Committee  also  requests  that  all  calcu- 
lations and  analytical  data  which  are  to  be  given-  in  reports  or  con- 
tributions intended  for  its  use  or  cognizance,  be  based  upon  the 
values  in  the  table.  It  would  be  highly  desirable  that  this  table  be 
adopted  and  uniformly  followed  by  chemists  in  general,  at  least  for 
practical  purposes,  until  it  is  superseded  by  a  revised  edition.  It 
would  only  be  necessary  for  any  author  of  a  paper,  etc.,  to  state 
that  his  analytical  figures  are  based  upon  "  Prof.  Clarke's  Table 
