10  Inorganic  Chemicals  of  the  U.S.P.  {A™k™llyAm>m' 
THE  INORGANIC  CHEMICALS  OF  THE  U.S.P.,  VIII. 
By  H.  V.  Arny,  Ph.D. 
The  request  of  the  editor  of  the  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy 
for  a  critique  of  the  chemicals  of  the  new  pharmacopoeia  has  been 
taken  up  by  the  writer  with  some  hesitation,  since  the  field  has  been 
so  thoroughly  thrashed  and  that  by  such  able  workers.  The  reviews 
written  by  Dr.  Lyons  for  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Association 
and  those  by  Professors  Hinrichs  and  Schimpf  in  the  November 
Journal  leave  little  to  be  said ;  so  the  writer  can  scarce  do  more 
than  offer  a  few  gleanings  by  way  of  personal  opinions. 
In  beginning,  the  writer  desires  to  add  his  to  the  many  voices 
raised  in  praise  of  our  new  standard,  as  it  is  indeed  a  monument  to 
modern  American  pharmacy.  Rarely  has  a  revision  brought  about 
so  many  radical  changes  and,  what  is  best,  nearly  every  change  is  a 
distinct  advance  over  the  standards  of  a  decade  since. 
Quite  gratifying  is  it  to  note  that  the  revisers  have  viewed  the 
commercial  side  of  pharmacy  in  a  manner  that  is  as  practical  as  it 
is  sensible;  as  is  most  strikingly  shown  in  the  4<  Purity  Rubric." 
This  designates  the  permissible  deviation  from  the  ideal  and  will 
prove  a  decided  safeguard  to  those  retail  pharmacists  whose  interests 
are  jeopardized  by  overzealous  Food  and  Drug  Commissioners  ;  a 
safeguard  more  than  counterbalancing  any  possible  objection  raised 
against  reduction  of  the  standard  based  on  the  fact  that  the  average 
manufacturer  is  prone  to  live  only  up  to  the  minimum  requirement 
of  any  standard. 
ADDITIONS. 
It  will  be  interesting  to  note  whether  Diluted  Hydtiodic  Acid  will 
keep  any  better  than  does  diluted  hydrobromic  acid  or  syrup  of 
hydriodic  acid.  Of  course,  the  potassium  hypophosphite  directed 
in  the  recipe  is  supposed  to  yield  enough  hypophosphorous  acid  to 
preserve  the  hydrogen  iodide,  but  will  it  accomplish  the  purpose  any 
better  than  it  did  in  the  syrup  of  1890  ? 
Compound  Solution  of  Chlorine  is  a  distinct  improvement  over  the 
chlorine  water  of  the  former  pharmacopoeias,  as  far  as  ease  in  manu- 
facture is  concerned,  and  should  answer  most  of  the  therapeutical 
requirements  of  its  predecessor. 
Compound  Solution  of  Sodium  Phosphate  seems  a  rather  belated 
