II     (u-  jijn  2 1898  s-j 
THE  AMERICAN 
JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
JUNE,  1898. 
\ 
EXAMINATION  OF  COMMERCIAL  SAMPLES  OF  AMYL 
NITRITE  AND  SPIRIT  OF  NITROUS  ETHER,  AND 
A  NEW  METHOD  FOR  THEIR  VALUATION. 
By  Cakx  E.  Smith. 
Report  from  Research  Committee  D,  Section  II,  of  the  Committee  of  Revision 
of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia. 
As  the  ethereal  nitrites  are  exceedingly  unstable  bodies,  gradually 
deteriorating,  notwithstanding  all  possible  care  taken  in  their  preser- 
vation, it  would  seem  incumbent  upon  the  dispensing  pharmacist, 
not  only  to  prevent  deterioration  as  much  as  possible  by  proper 
precautions,  and  to  make  or  purchase  these  preparations  only  in 
such  quantities  as  can  be  used  in  a  short  time,  but  also  to  determine 
from  time  to  time  the  extent  of  change  that  has  taken  place,  as  indi- 
cated by  loss  of  strengt1  ,  increase  of  acidity,  etc.  An  article  pur- 
chased from  a  reliable  firm,  or  made  by  the  pharmacist  himself,  may 
meet  all  requirements  when  made  or  received,  but, after  having  been 
kept  some  time,  it  will  have  suffered  sufficient  loss  of  strength  to 
require  an  increase  of  dose,  if  not  to  be  rejected  entirely,  and  this 
loss  cannot  be  even  approximately  determined  without  suitable 
quantitative  tests.  That  such  tests  are  necessary,  is  shown  by  the 
frequent  reports  in  the  journals  upon  these  substances  purchased  in 
drug  stores,  and  found  nearly  always  much  below  the  official  stand- 
ard, in  some  cases  even  entirely  devoid  of  nitrite. 
Many  pharmacists  might  possibly  be  persuaded  to  test  their  sup- 
plies of  amyl  nitrite  and  spirit  of  nitrous  ether,  if  they  were  not 
deterred  by  a  seeming,  though  not  real,  complexity  of  the  present 
(273) 
