SWEET  SPIRIT  OF  NITRE. 
73 
that  they  have  now  taken  a. large  establishment,  and  will  be  pre- 
pared to  carry  on  the  manufacture  quite  extensively.  The  cost 
is,  at  present,  from  ten  to  twenty  per  cent,  higher  than  ordinary 
flint  glass.  The  ware  seems  to  be  stronger  than  glass. — Proc. 
Am.  Pharm.  Association,  1867. 
SWEET  SPIRIT  OF  NITRE. 
By  A.  Theod.  Moitii. 
Not  many  apothecaries  will  be  able  or  willing  to  prepare  sweet 
spirit  of  nitre  according  to  the  formula  laid  down  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, unless  they  be  the  owners  of  a  well  appointed  laboratory. 
It  is  notorious  that  nearly  all  the  sweet  spirit  of  nitre  sold  by 
druggists  for  85  cents  per  pound  does  not  come  up  to  the  tests 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  Unless  a  physician  insists  peremptorily 
on  having  Dr.  Squibb's  nitre,  it  is  not  likely  that  the  apothecary 
will  procure  the  proper  article  :  as  a  pure  article  like  Dr.  Squibb's, 
which  I  ha  ve  used  exclusively  for  the  last  four  years,  costs  $1.46 
per  pound,  the  difference  is  too  great  for  most. 
In  this  dilemma  between  dispensing  a  cheap  poor  article  and 
a  good  one,  comes  to  our  relief,  in  my  humble  opinion,  a  formula 
by  Professor  Theoph.  Redwood,  given  in  the  J uly  number  of  the 
Druggists'  Circular. 
Struck  by  the  rationale  of  this  formula,  I  prepared  it  by  this 
formula  three  or  four  times,  and  the  spirit  of  nitre  resulting 
answers  fully  all  the  tests  of  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
Any  one  with  the  slightest  claim  to  the  name  of  apothecary 
will  be  able  to  perform  the  task  easily,  cheaply,  and  without  any 
risks.  A  retort,  a  glass  receiver  marked  with  a  strip  of  paper, 
pasted  on,  to  indicate  12  and  15  ounces,  a  Fahrenheit  ther- 
mometer, besides  a  stove,  and  a  stove  kettle  for  water-bath,  are 
all  that  are  necessary  in  the  way  of  apparatus. 
Around  a  pencil  1  coiled  loosely  a  cylinder  of  fine  copper  wire 
(No.  22  will  do),  2  oz.  ;  remove  the  pencil,  and  introduce  or  slip 
the  wire  into  the  retort.  Pour  on  this,  through  a  long-necked 
funnel,  a  mixture  made  as  follows  : 
To  1  pint  stronger  alcohol  pour  slowly,  under  constant  stirring, 
2  fluidounces  sulphuric  acid,  sp.  gr.  1*843,  and  then  2J  fluid- 
