^pimbV^ism'}    British  Pharmaceutical  Conference.  461 
salts  is  very  well  defined,  the  reaction  is  almost  as  well  marked  as  in  the  case  of 
the  formation  of  the  neutral  salt  of  an  alkali,  and  thus  as  far  as  indicators  go, 
the  sulphate  of  quinine  of  the  British,  American,  German,  and  most  other 
Pharmacopoeias  is  undoubtedly  a  neutral  salt.  No  indicator  appears  to  show 
the  formation  of  the  soluble  salt  with  any  degree  of  certainty. 
The  effect  of  sulphuric  acid  in  increasing  the  specific  rotation  of  polarized 
light  by  solutions  of  quinine,  also  point  to  a  marked  difference  in  the  constitu- 
tion of  the  different  sulphates.  From  the  labors  of  Hesse  the  maximum  rotation 
is  not  reached  immediately  on  the  addition  of  the  excess  of  acid,  but  only  after 
a  lapse  of  some  time,  pointing  to  a  slow  formation  of  the  tetrasulphate  in  the 
comparatively  dilute  solutions  used. 
Whatever  theoretic  conclusions  we  may  form  as  to  the  composition  of  the 
salts  of  quinine,  there  is  no  doubt  of  the  convenience  of  the  nomenclature 
adopted  by  the  British,  German,  American,  Dutch,  and  most  other  Pharma- 
copoeias, which  regards  the  familiar  sulphate  as  neutral  and  the  soluble  sulphate 
as  a  bisulphate,  but  in  foreign  commerce  we  must  always  be  on  our  guard 
against  confusion  arising  from  the  French  nomenclature,  to  guard  against 
which  the  Italian  Pharmacopoeia  gives  us  the  following  remarkable  trio  of 
synonyms  :  Bisolfato  de  chinino  =  solfato  acido  de  chinino  =  solphato  neutro 
de  chinino. 
NOTES  ON  FBRRUM  RBDACTUM,  P.B.,  1898. 
By  K.  Saville  Peck. 
The  author  examined  some  fifteen  samples  collected  from  different  sources — 
wholesale  houses,  pharmacists,  hospitals  and  drug  stores.  From  the  subjoined 
table  (B)  it  will  be  seen  that,  with  few  exceptions,  the  more  silvery -gray  the 
sample,  the  more  free  metallic  iron  it  contained.  The  brown  masses  mentioned 
consisted  chiefly  of  ferric  oxide  (F203). 
When  treated  with  hydrochloric  acid  all  samples  left  a  variable  residue  of 
carbon  and  Si  02.  Hydrogen  was  liberated  having  an  odor  of  carburetted 
hydrogen  or  an  olefine.  This  liberated  hydrogen  when  passed  into  lead  acetate 
solution  gave  a  black  coloration,  due  to  lead  sulphate  according  to  the  sulphur 
present. 
Nine  out  of  the  twelve  samples  contained  arsenic.  Five  of  the  samples  gave 
distinctly  alkaline  reaction.  The  following  table  indicates  the  difference  in  the 
results  obtained  by  the  copper  sulphate  (P.B.,  1898)  and  the  mercuric  chloride 
(U.S. P.,  1890)  methods  for  the  estimation  of  ferrum  redactum  : 
Percentage  of  Iron  by 
Copper  Sulphate 
Method,  P.B.,  1898. 
91-  68 
92-  06 
60-13 
60-65 
41-91 
41-66 
Percentage  of  Iron  by 
Mercuric  Chloride 
Method,  U.S.A.,  1890. 
85-65 
8574 
41-19 
4179 
31-16 
31-82 
Percentage. 
Average 
Difference. 
6-i8 
19-40 
10-29 
It  was  found  that  the  solution  of  copper  sulphate  (as  is  invariably  the  case) 
gave  an  acid  reaction  with  litmus  paper,  and  it  is  conceivable  that  this  acid 
