THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JULY,   1  87  3. 
EFFERVESCING  SOLUTION  OF  TARTRATE  OF  SODIUM. 
By  Adolph  W.  Miller,  M.  D.f  Ph.D. 
This  preparation  is  offered  as  an  improvement  on  the  popular  solu- 
tion of  citrate  of  magnesium.  The  formula  for  its  manufacture  was 
devised  by  Mr.  Joseph  Landschiitz,  a  veteran  pharmacist  of  this  city, 
who  has  been  for  some  time  dispensing  it,  and  who  states  that  his  cus- 
tomers express  a  decided  preference  for  it. 
The  U.  S.  Dispensatory  says  of  tartrate  of  sodium,  that  it  is  re- 
commended by  M.  Delioux  as  an  agreeable  purgative,  almost  without 
taste,  and  equal  to  sulphate  of  magnesium  in  its  medicinal  effects. 
The  merits  claimed  for  the  solution  of  tartrate  of  sodium  are  that  it 
is  more  pleasant  to  the  taste  than  even  citrate  of  magnesium,  while  it 
is  more  reliable  and  efficient  in  its  action  as  a  purgative,  with  less 
tendency  to  produce  tenesmus.  Another  decided  advantage  is  the 
fact  of  its  forming  a  permanent  solution,  from  which  no  precipitate 
settles  down,  and  last,  though  not  least,  its  much  greater  cheapness, 
costing  only  about  one-fourth  as  much  as  the  magnesium  citrate.  The 
present  high  price  of  citric  acid  seems  to  offer  peculiar  temptations  to 
cheaper  sophistications,  such  as  sulphate  of  magnesium,  as  pointed 
out  by  Mr.  Win.  R.  Warner  in  his  essay  on  page  397,  vol.  39  (1867), 
of  this  Journal.  The  retail  price  of  25  cents  per  bottle,  which  has 
been  adopted  in  many  pharmacies  of  this  city,  in  reality  yields  an  en- 
tirely inadequate  profit  to  the  vendor,  while  competition  in  many  lo- 
calities makes  it  difficult  to  obtain  a  higher  rate.  It  would  therefore 
seem  to  be  in  the  interest  of  both  druggists  and  physicians  to  make 
a  trial  of  the  new  aperient  under  consideration,  which  promises  to 
eclipse  the  now  renowned  citrate  of  magnesium. 
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