Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
October,  1906.  J 
The  Duty  of  the  Pharmacist, 
465 
The  next  method  tried  was  to  dilute  the  glycerin  solution  of 
morphine  with  a  saturated  solution  of  potassium  carbonate  and  then 
shake  the  liquid  out  three  times  with  hot  amy!  alcohol.  From  the 
amyl  alcohol  the  alkaloid  was  extracted  by  shaking  out  three  times 
with  small  amounts  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid.  By  this  method  some 
morphine  was  recovered,  but  the  amount  was  very  small.  As  the 
method  is  very  inconvenient  with  larger  quantities  of  liquid  and  the 
results  are  poor,  this  method,  too,  is  certainly  very  unsatisfactory. 
The  best  results  were  obtained  by  the  following  method :  The 
glycerin  solution  of  morphine  sulphate  is  treated  with  an  excess  of 
normal  iodine  solution  and  the  liquid  diluted  with  water  to  about 
three  times  the  original  volume.  On  standing  over  night  about  80 
per  cent,  of  the  morphine  taken  crystallized  out  as  the  characteristic 
morphine  hydriodide  triiodide.  The  crystals  were  collected  upon  a 
small  filter,  washed  with  water  containing  a  little  Wagner's  reagent 
and  then  dissolved  by  adding  a  few  cubic  centimeters  of  a  10  per 
cent,  solution  of  sulphurous  acid. 
In  this  way  even  starting  with  a  very  large  amount  of  a  glycerin 
solution  of  morphine  the  alkaloid  is  finally  obtained  in  only  a  few 
cubic  centimeters  of  an  aqueous  liquid  perfectly  free  from  glycerin. 
On  now  adding  a  slight  excess  of  potassium  carbonate  and  heating 
to  about  ioo°  for  a  minute  or  two  the  alkaloid  commences  to  crys- 
tallize out  within  half  an  hour. 
Northwestern  University  School  of  Pharmacy. 
THE  DUTY  OF  THE  PHARMACIST  TO  AID  IN  THE 
ELIMINATION  OF  IRREGULAR  PRACTICES.1 
By  Charges  H.  LaWaix. 
In  the  consideration  of  the  above  subject,  it  will  first  be  found 
necessary  to  briefly  review  and  define  some  of  the  acts  which  would 
justly  be  entitled  to  the  term  irregular. 
Irregularity  in  its  strictest  sense  means,  contrary  to  the  ethics  of 
the  professions  of  medicine  and  pharmacy,  but  in  the  broader  signi- 
1  Read  before  the  Philadelphia  Section  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical  Asso- 
ciation, May  21,  1906. 
