Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
Aug.  1,  1873.  J 
Editorial. 
38a 
Among  the  letters  which  we  have  received  about  Mr.  Wilder's  work,  we  pub- 
lish the  following,  from  Mr.  Henry  C.  Morse,  of  Elmira,  N.  Y.,  not  merely  be- 
cause it  deservedly  praises  the  book  in  question,  but  because  it  contains  a  sug- 
gestion which  is  worthy  of  adoption  by  all  who  occasionally  or  often  may  have 
to  consult  the  later  volumes  of  the  "  Journal."    Mr.  Morse  says  : 
I  have  made  a  very  careful  examination  of  its  contents,  and  find  it,  without 
any  exception,  the  most  complete  and  thorough  as  to  matter  and  most  perfect 
as  to  arrangement  of  any  work  of  like  nature  that  has  come  under  my  obser- 
vation, exhibiting  a  very  large  amount  of  careful,  patient  and  exceedingly  hard 
work. 
Allow  me  to  suggest  that  subscribers  may  continue  the  work  in  all  its  per- 
fection by  having  a  blank  leaf  placed  between  each  two  leaves  of  the  printed 
book  when  bound,  and  make  additions  with  pen  and  ink  as  each  new  volume  is 
issued.  By  so  doing,  each  subscriber  will  virtually  have  the  "  General  Index  " 
always  complete  to  the  present  time. 
Aromatic  Spirit  of  Ammonia. — A  correspondent  has  met  with  difficulties  in 
making  this  preparation,  as  he  thinks,  strictly  according  to  the  Pharmacopoeia.. 
At  one  time  he  observed  in  the  bottle  used  for  the  purpose,  a  thick  sediment  about 
an  inch  in  depth ;  at  another  time  the  sediment  was  only  about  £  inch  in  thick- 
ness, and  when  he  made  the  spirit  a  third  time  there  was  no  precipitate  what- 
ever. 
The  translucent  officinal  carbonate  of  ammonium  may  be  regarded  as  sesqui- 
carbonate  of  ammonium,  or  as  a  chemical  combination  between  the  mono-  and' 
bicarbonates  of  ammonium.  The  sesquicarbonate  is  insoluble  in  alcohol,  by 
which  liquid  it  is  decomposed  into  monocarbonate,  which  dissolves,  and  bicar- 
bonate, which  precipitates.  The  addition  of  ammonia  water,  as  directed  by 
the  Pharmacopoeia,  converts  this  insoluble  bicarbonate  into  soluble  monocar- 
bonate ;  hence,  if  the  ammonia  water  used  is  weaker  than  the  officinal,  the 
quantity  directed  is  insufficient  to  dissolve  all  the  bicarbonate,  and  conse- 
quently leaves  a  sediment. 
On  exposing  the  officinal  translucent  sesquicarbonate  to  the  atmosphere,  it 
becomes  opaque,  white,  and  finally  pulverulent,  at  the  same  time  becoming 
much  weaker  in  odor  ;  monocarbonate  of  ammonium  has  been  lost  by  evapora- 
tion, and  bicarbonate  is  left  behind,  which,  to  be  converted  into  soluble  (in 
alcohol)  m  nocarbonate,  requires  a  much  larger  amount  of  ammonia  water  than 
is  needed  for  the  same  purpose  by  the  officinal  salt. 
The  causes  of  failure  in  making  this  preparation  are,  therefore,  an  ammonia 
water  weaker  than  the  officinal,  and  (2)  an  opaque  or  effloresced  carbonate  of 
ammonium.  If  the  material  employed  is  strictly  that  directed  by  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, no  sediment  will  occur. 
Collusion  between  Physicians  and  Pharmacists. — We  have  on  several 
occasions  referred  to  a  species  of  fraud,  the  result  of  a  compact  between  phy- 
sician and  pharmacist,  of  which  of  course  the  patient  is  the  intended  victim, 
and  which  is  consummated  by  the  former  writing  his  prescriptions  in  a  manner 
that  they  can  be  deciphered  only  by  the  second  party  of  the  understanding. 
The  following,  which  is  taken  from  a  correspondence  placed  at  our  disposal,. 
