432  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.    { ^p^embef.'i™ 
An  Improved  Method  for  the  Assay  of  Alkaloidal  Drugs. 
By  A.  B.  Lyons. 
In  the  method  proposed  by  the  author  he  avoids  the  use  of  ali- 
quot parts  as  in  Keller's  method.  The  elimination  of  aliquot  parts 
from  routine  assay  methods  has  been  advocated  by  Puckner  (Pharm. 
Review,  xvi,  p.  180  and  xx,  p.  457)  and  seems  to  be  gaining  ground 
in  this  country. 
The  Lost  Arts.  Plasters. 
By  C.  S.  N.  Hallberg. 
The  author  gives  the  following  formulae: 
Lead  oleate — (emplastrum  plumbi):  soap,  granular  and  dried, 
gm.  100;  lead  acetate,  60;  distilled  water,  a  sufficient  quantity. 
Dissolve  the  soap  in  350  c.c.  hot  distilled  water  and  strain  the  solu- 
tion. Dissolve  the  lead  acetate  in  250  c.c.  hot  distilled  water  and 
filter  the  solution  while  hot  into  the  warm  soap  solution,  stirring 
constantly.  When  the  precipitate  which  has  formed  has  separated 
decant  the  liquid  and  wash  the  precipitate  thoroughly  with  hot 
water.  Remove  the  precipitate,  let  it  drain,  free  from  water  completely 
by  kneading  it  on  a  warm  slab,  form  it  into  rolls,  wrap  in  paraffin 
paper  and  preserve  in  tightly  closed  containers. 
Emplastrum  adhesivum  :  rubber,  cut  in  small  pieces,  gm.  20  ; 
petrolatum,  20  ;  lead  plaster,  960.  Melt  the  rubber  at  a  tempera- 
ture not  exceeding  I50°C,  add  the  petrolatum  and  continue  the  heat 
until  the  rubber  is  dissolved.  Add  the  lead  plaster  to  the  hot  mix- 
ture, continue  the  heat  until  it  becomes  liquid,  then  let  it  cool  and 
stir  it  until  it  stiffens. 
"  The  desirability  of  a  formula  which  will  produce  a  plaster  hav- 
ing the  adhesive  and  stable  qualities  of  commercial  rubber-plasters 
is  generally  recognized.  To  admit  rubber  plasters  into  the  U.  S.  Ph., 
without  giving  a  formula  by  which  they  can  be  made  by  the  retail 
pharmacist,  would  be  a  decided  innovation ;  something  which  has 
not  been  done  in  any  other  class  of  galenic  or  pharmaceutic  prepar- 
ations. Besides  the  vehicle  for  plasters  intended  for  endermatic  and 
diadermatic  uses  is  of  as  much  importance  as  is  the  medicinal  agent. 
The  rubber  vehicle  serves  admirably  for  adhesive  or  purely  epider- 
matic  purposes,  but  its  use  for  the  plasters  of  the  more  important 
groups  is  certainly,  to  say  the  least,  of  questionable  propriety.  This 
