576 
Progress  in  Pharmacy. 
{  Am.  Jour.  Pbarm. 
\   Deconiber,  1911. 
is  generally  believed  that  a  large  percentage  of  the  drug  sold  in  the 
United  States  is  used  either  by  persons  who  have  acquired  the  drug 
habit  or,  to  a  minor  degree,  for  smoking  purposes. 
Pankreon. — Tannin-pancreatin  compound.  A  mixture  contain- 
ing the  active  tryptic,  diastatic,  and  steatolytic  ferments  of  the  pan- 
creas and  about  8  per  cent,  of  tannin.  Pankreon  is  a  dry,  grayish, 
odorless  powder  of  a  slightly  acidulous  taste.  It  is  soluble  in  alka- 
line liquids  and  practically  in  waters  and  acid  liquids. — J.  Am.  M. 
Ass.,  191 1,  V.  57,  p.  1455. 
Pepsin  and  Pancreatin  in  Solution. — A.  Zimmerman  reports  a 
number  of  laboratory  studies  of  combinations  of  pepsin  and  pan- 
creatin and  concludes  that  these  ferments  exercise  no  destructive 
action  upon  one  another,  and  that  with  the  proper  degree  of  acidity 
they  can  be  kept  in  the  same  solution  permanently,  the  loss  of  ac- 
tivity noted  by  other  observers  having  been  due,  entirely,  to  the 
reaction  of  the  solution  and  to  the  degree  of  such  reaction. — /.  Ind. 
and  Eng.  Cheni.,  1911,  v.  3,  pp.  750-753. 
Metallic  Peroxides. — The  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chem- 
istry describes  a  number  of  metallic  peroxides  which  are  compounds 
in  which  the  hydrogen  of  hydrogen  peroxide  has  been  replaced  by 
metals  and  which  are  readily  decomposed  with  liberation  of  hydro- 
gen peroxide,  or  of  oxygen  in  an  active  state.  The  commercial 
products  are  usually  mixtures  containing  but  a  limited  amount  of 
real  peroxide ;  for  example,  commercial  ''magnesium  peroxide"  con- 
tains but  about  15  per  cent,  of  mag"nesium  peroxide,  while  com- 
mercial "sodium  peroxide"  contains  about  75  per  cent,  of  sodium 
peroxide. — /.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  1911,  v.  57,  p.  1209. 
Quinine  Tannate  is  described  by  the  Council  on  Pharmacy 
and  Chemistry  as  the  tannate  of  the  alkaloid  quinine  containing 
from  29  to  35  per  cent,  of  quinine.  Quinine  tannate  has  the  action 
of  other  salts  of  quinine,  but  on  account  of  its  insolubility  its  action 
is  less  certain  than  the  more  soluble  quinine  salts.  The  lack  of  bit- 
terness renders  it  a  useful  preparation  for  administration  to  chil- 
dren.— /.  Am.  M.  Ass.,  1911,  V.  57,  p.  1287. 
An  editorial  (Ibid.,  p.  1304)  in  commenting  on  the  report  on 
the  commercially  available  quinine  tannate,  points  out  the  need  for 
\  physicians  specifying  the  brand  of  quinine  tannate  desired  or  sug- 
gesting to  the  pharmacist  that  he  secure  for  dispensing  purposes  a 
brand  of  quinine  tannate  that  complies  with  the  requirements  out- 
lined by  the  Council  on  Pharmacy  and  Chemistry. 
