Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
April,  1886.  / 
Bismuthi  Citms,  Etc. 
175 
BISMUTHI  CITHAS,  WITH  AN  IMPROVED  FORMULA 
FOR  THE  PREPARATION  OF  LIQUOR  BISMUTHI 
ET  AMMONII  CITRATIS.1 
By  Peter  MacEwan, 
Pharmaceutical  Chemist. 
Whatever  may  be  said  against  the  new  process  for  the  preparation 
of  liquor  bismuthi,  no  one  will  deny  that  it  is  an  honest  attempt  to 
get  rid  of  the  objectionable  features  of  the  old  liquor,  which  was  a 
very  different  thing  from  its  prototype.  Unless  in  strength,  which 
is  still  very  much  over  the  mark,  the  formula  given  under  Liquor  Bis- 
muthi et  Ammonii  Citratis  is  all  right,  provided  we  have  a  pure 
citrate  to  begin  with.  Therein  lies  the  difficulty,  for  the  official  pro- 
cess for  the  citrate  is  almost  unworkable,  and,  however  modified,  does 
not  give  a  pure  ammonia-soluble  citrate. 
I  have  no  personal  experience  of  the  commercial  citrate,  but  since 
the  publication  of  the  new  Pharmacopoeia  I  have  had  numerous 
inquiries  regarding  it.  The  first  inquirer  had  used  a  pint  of  ammonia 
solution  for  800  grains  of  citrate,  and  yet  did  not  obtain  a  perfect 
solution ;  it  was  milky  and  a  portion  of  the  citrate  was  untouched. 
This  complaint  has  been  repeated  by  others,  and  some  who  have 
tested  the  citrate  report  the  presence  of  nitrate  in  it,  and  so  on. 
There  have  also  been  many  complaints  about  the  process,  and  it  is 
these  more  particularly  which  have  induced  me  to  make  this  inquiry. 
No  doubt  manufacturers  will  see  that  they  send  out  a  pure  article, 
and  thus  arrest  further  complaint;  but  there  is  a  growing  tendency 
amongst  retail  pharmacists  to  manufacture  odd  chemicals.  Whether 
this  is  the  outcome  of  better  chemical  knowledge  or  lack  of  business 
I  am  not  prepared  to  say,  though  probably  both  have  an  influence. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  the  desire  to  manufacture  on  the  small  scale  de- 
serves encouragement,  and  surely  the  fountain-head  of  this  encour- 
agement ought  to  be  our  national  Pharmacopoeia.  But  in  this  case 
it  is  not  so,  the  official  process  for  the  preparation  of  a  few  ounces  of 
citrate  of  bismuth  is  the  opposite  of  encouraging. 
Already  Mr.  Stephenson  has  recorded  his  disappointment,  and  my 
results  corroborate  his  to  the  full.  If  11  ounces  of  nitric  acid  be 
used  to  dissolve  the  bismuth,  water  may  be  added  to  the  solution  ad 
infinitum  without  arriving  at  the  critical  point ;  with  6  ounces  of  acid 
1  Eead  at  a  meeting  of  the  Edinburgh  Chemists'  Assistants  and  Apprentices' 
Association. 
