NON-OFFICINAL  FORMULAE  IN  LOCAL  USE. 
237 
most  useful  scientific  establishments  of  the  many  which  cluster  around 
the  great  metropolis  of  England,  and  derive  their  sustenance  from  the 
general  government. 
We  cannot  close  without  referring  to  the  garden  at  Edinburgh,  of 
which  Dr.  Balfour  is  director,  and  Mr.  McNab  the  practical  superintend- 
ent, as  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  well-kept  anywhere  seen.  The 
palm  house  is  in  excellent  condition,  and  claims  to  be  better  located  than 
that  at  Kew,  but  the  grounds  everywhere  indicated  that  a  master-hand 
was  in  charge.  We  saw  the  remains  of  the  Narthex  assafceticla  ;  it  being 
late  in  the  season  (August),  only  one  unwilted  leaf  remained,  and  about 
forty  young  plants  had  been  raised  from  seed. 
April,  1868. 
NON-OFFICINAL  FORMULAE  IN  LOCAL  USE. 
A  friend  in  Washington  has  kindly  sent  the  Editor  a  little 
pamphlet  volume,  of  which  the  following  is  the  title  page  : 
Non- officinal  formulce  in  local  use,  compiled  and  published  by 
the  joint  committee  of  the  Medical  and  Pharmaceutical  Associa- 
tions of  the  District  of  Columbia.    Washington,  1867  ;  pp.  32. 
This  little  work  is  without  a  preface,  or  any  explanatory 
note.  It  is  gotten  up  for  the  purpose  of  giving  uniformity  to  a 
class  of  preparations  that  are  very  liable  to  vary  as  made  in 
different  shops  in  the  same  city,  so  as  to  render  their  prescrip- 
tion by  physicians  uncertain.  The  great  trouble  in  such  pre- 
parations arises  from  a  disposition  on  the  part  of  pharmaceutists 
to  make  them  proprietary  specialities,  and  to  claim  for  them  a 
character  superior  to  other  preparations  of  the  same  class.  N"ow 
the  existence  of  such  a  work  as  the  above  indicates  an  esprit 
du  corps  on  the  part  of  the  Washington  pharmaceutists  which 
is  quite  commendable.  Many  of  the  formulas  are  taken  from 
the  journals,  but,  issued  in  this  way,  the  dispenser  is  not  at  a 
loss  in  knowing  which  to  use  when  a  prescription  is  received. 
The  following  is  a  selection  of  some  that  we  have  not  before 
published : 
Elixir  Cinchonoe,  Ferri  et  Bismuthi. 
Take  of  Citrate  of  Bismuth  and  Ammonise,  four  drachms, 
Citrate  of  Iron  and  Ammoniae,  two  drachms. 
