Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1891.  J 
Notes  on  Pra'ciical  Pharmacy. 
119 
As  appears  from  recent  investigations  upon  this  subject,  the  vari- 
ous extracts  of  Nux  Vomica  found  in  the  market  differ  very  greatly 
in  quality,  some  containing  the  proper  amount  of  alkaloids,  while 
others,  and  these  the  great  majority,  contain  considerably  less,  and 
some  not  any. 
From  these  considerations  it  is  clearly  evident  that  no  extract 
which  is  not  prepared  according  to  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  should 
be  used  for  making  the  tincture,  and  no  pharmacist  is  justified  in 
using  for  this  purpose,  an  extract  of  the  preparation  of  which  he  is 
ignorant,  unless  he  assays  it  and  finds  it  to  contain  the  proper 
amount  of  alkaloids. 
I  therefore  have  no  hesitation  in  saying  that  the  proposed  change 
is  not  desirable. 
NOTES  ON  PRACTICAL  PHARMACY. 
By  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  Feb.  17, 
The  following  notes  on  practical  pharmacy  have  been  the  result 
of  the  writer's  experience,  mainly  in  the  direction  of  preparation  of 
the  officinal  galenicals.  The  question  as  to  how  far  a  pharmacist 
is  justified  in  going  in  an  alteration  or  modification  of  an  officinal 
formula,  is,  I  think,  best  answered  in  this  way:  To  the  extent  in 
which  there  is  no  alteration  of  therapeutical  action,  diminution 
in  strength,  nor  decided  change  in  obvious  physical  properties.  It 
goes  without  saying  that^  the  therapeutical  activity  of  the  drug 
should  remain  unchanged  or  else  the  preparation  will  not  represent 
the  drug  from  which  it  is  made,  and  that  the  strength  should  be 
maintained  or  else  unreliability  will  result.  Just  to  what  extent 
the  physical  character  of  a  preparation  may  be  modified  is  depend- 
ent upon  the  circumstances  of  each  special  case  ;  as  to  whether  the 
pharmacopoeial  process  is  particularly  faulty,  or  whether  it  will  not 
yield  the  results  claimed  for  it,  or  whether  it  can  be  improved 
without  cost  to  its  therapeutical  value  and  strength  of  drug. 
Compound  Chalk  Poivder. — This  new  officinal  powder,  for  the 
extemporaneous  preparation  of  chalk  mixture,  can  be  improved  in 
its  making  by  adding  .oil  of  cinnamon  directly  to  the  powder, 
and  making  the  mixture  up  with  water,  as  needed.  To  each 
troy  ounce  add  4  minims  of  the  oil  of  cinnamon.  Criticism  has 
been  made  upon  the  large  amount  of  sugar  in  this  powder — one 
