Am.  Jour.  Pharrn.  \ 
June,  1898.  J 
Sodium  Phosphate  Solution. 
303 
no  generation  of  hydriodic  acid  for  the  making  of  hydriodide.  As 
to  the  formation  of  the  periodides  in  chloroformic  solutions  of  atro- 
pine and  iodine,  it  might  possibly  be  explained  by  the  substituting 
action  of  iodine  either  upon  the  chloroform  or  upon  a  side-chain  of 
the  atropine. 
The  direct  substitution  of  iodine  for  some  of  the  hydrogen  in  these 
bodies  might,  in  this  case,  be  made  possible  by  the  presence  of  the 
natural  base  which  combines  with  the  hydriodic  acid,  when  formed 
by  such  a  substitution.  Part  of  the  atropine  would  then  act  in  a 
manner  similar  to  that  of  mercuric  oxide,  which  is  usually  employed 
in  the  iodizing  of  hydrocarbons.  An  analogous  case  we  have  in  the 
easy  substitution  of  iodine  for  some  of  the  hydrogen  in  aniline,  a 
part  of  which  combines  with  the  hydriodic  acid,  which  is  set  free 
through  the  substitution  of  iodine  for  hydrogen  in  another  part.  At 
any  rate  we  shall  endeavor  to  determine  the  by-products  formed 
when  atropine  enneaiodide  is  produced  in  chloroformic  solutions. 
University  of  Michigan,  February  28,  1898. 
"sodium  PHOSPHATE  SOLUTION.1 
By  Joseph  W.  England, 
Philadelphia  Hospital,  Philadelphia. 
The  limited  solubility  of  the  official  "  crystallized  "  sodium  phos- 
phate— about  10  grains  to  the  fluidram  of  water,  at  ordinary  tem- 
perature— and  the  much  less  solubility  of  the  "  dried  and  powdered" 
salt  of  commerce — often  used — which  is  the  crystalline  salt  minus 
its  60-3  per  cent,  of  water  of  crystallization,  has  militated  somewhat 
against  the  more  extended  employment  of  the  compound,  although 
its  use  has  rapidly  grown  in  recent  years.  The  so-called  "  granular  " 
form  is  more  convenient  to  handle  than  the  crystalline,  but  it  con- 
tains almost  as  large  a  percentage  of  water,  and,  as  efflorescence  of 
salt  readily  takes  place  on  exposure  to  air,  water  is  lost,  and  the  per- 
centage of  active  ingredient  becomes  indefinite. 
The  advantage  in  using  the  dried  and  powdered  salt  rests  in  the 
fact  that  it  contains  only  about  1  per  cent,  of  water,  and  loss  of  water, 
if  any,  is  within  very  narrow  limits. 
Various  formulas  have  been  proposed  for  making  solutions  of 
1  Read  by  invitation  before  the  Philadelphia  County  Medical  Society,  May 
11,  1898. 
