574 
Bismuth  Salicylate. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm 
Dec,  1891. 
and  in  these  the  vanillin  was  easily  recognizable  by  the  bluish-green 
color  produced  in  the  test ;  a  third  specimen  was  made  from  a  bean 
that  had  been  kept  for  at  least  twenty  years,  and  in  this  the  color 
produced  was  also  characteristic  of  vanillin,  showing  that  age  does 
not  cause  deterioration  of  the  bean ;  with  these  three  samples  the 
completed  tests  were  odorless.  A  fourth  sample  obtained  from  a 
grocery  had  a  strong  odor  of  coumarin  after  the  completion  of  the 
test,  while  the  color  of  the  test  excluded  more  than  minute  quantities 
of  vanilla  in  its  preparation. 
NOTE  ON  BISMUTH  SALICYLATE. 
By  Joseph  W.  England,  Ph.G. 
Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy,  Nov.  17. 
Since  salicylic  acid  is  a  monobasic  acid,  true  acid  salts  of  it  are  impos- 
sible. What  is  meant  by  "  acid  "  bismuth  salicylate  in  commerce  is  a 
mixture  containing  a  very  varying  amount  of  free  or  uncombined  sali- 
cylic acid.  It  is  in  no  sense  a  true,  definite  compound.  The  existence 
of  the  so-called  "  acid  "  salt  arose  through  the  imperfections  of  early 
manufacture,  salicylic  acid  being  so  readily  precipitated  from  solu- 
tions of  its  salts  by  acid  solutions.  Lately  there  has  been  an 
improvement  in  purity,  but  the  writer  believes  that  there  exists 
still  further  room  for  better  quality.  A  prominent  firm  of  manufac- 
turing chemists  has  kindly  furnished  me  with  the  following  list  of 
analyses  made  by  themselves  of  bismuth  salicylates.  The  first  one 
examined  was  of  foreign  make,  the  second  of  domestic  origin;  both 
were  made  in  1883;  the  others  were  all  made  in  1891. 
In  making  comparison  it  should  be  remembered  that  anhydrous 
normal  bismuth  salicylate  (BiOC7H5Os)  should  yield  64-46  per  cent, 
of  Bi2Os  on  ignition.  The  yield  of  Bi2Os  of  the  samples  examined 
was  as  follows :  No.  1  (Foreign  acid),  27-2  per  cent.;  No.  2  (Domestic, 
basic),  66-J  per  cent.;  No.  3  (Acid),  43-4  per  cent.;  No-  4  (Foreign, 
basic),  6y -4.  per  cent.;  and  No.  5  (Domestic,  basic),  61-2  per  cent. 
The  wide  differences  in  composition  will  be  noted,  as  well  as  the 
steady  improvement  towards  the  normal  basic  salt.  If  simply  bis- 
muth salicylate  is  ordered,  manufacturers  supply  the  basic  com- 
pound and  not  the  acid,  arguing  that  the  former  is  the  true  normal 
compound,  and  that  if  the  "  acid  "  compound  is  the  more  active  one, 
therapeutically,  as  is  believed,  it  is  far  less  confusing  to  supply  the 
basic  compound,  and  let  the  physician  add  salicylic  acid  in  any  pro- 
