ADoioberS!m*}        Pharmaceutical  Preparations.  471 
rendered  its  use  valuable  for  some  time  in  the  preparation  of  cements 
for  filling  dental  cavities.  Recent  researches  at  the  New  York 
Quarantine  Station  have  shown  that  sulphate  of  copper  and 
hydroxide  of  copper  are  among  the  most  valuable  deodorants  and 
disinfectants  we  possess,  and  promise  to  revolutionize  the  processes 
of  water  purification  in  the  future.  By  the  use  of  an  equal  weight 
of  quicklime  in  combination  with  copper  sulphate,  the  hydroxide  of 
copper  is  precipitated  as  the  active  agent  of  the  mixture.  Its  action 
is  both  mechanical  and  chemical.  The  insolubility  of  the  cupric 
hydroxide  in  water  renders  its  use  as  a  water-purifying  agent  par- 
ticularly valuable. 
Whether  the  therapy  of  radium  will  cause  it  to  be  admitted  to 
any  future  Pharmacopoeia  or  to  be  employed  in  manufacturing 
pharmacy  is  a  matter  difficult  for  conjecture.  The  metal  was  valued 
at  .$55,000  an  ounce  in  November,  1903,  but  has  advanced  since  to 
■$900,000  an  ounce.  The  great  increase  in  the  cost  is  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  Austrian  Government  practically  cornered  the  world's 
supply  of  the  precious  metal  and  refuses  to  permit  even  a  grain  being 
exported.  Most  of  that  exported  prior  to  1903  has  found  its  way 
into  the  cabinets  of  wealthy  collectors  and  scientists  and  is  being 
held  as  a  curiosity  or  for  private  experiments. 
Regarding  tinctures,  it  is  important  to  learn  that  in  the  new  Phar- 
macopoeia just  being  issued,  the  strength  of  tincture  of  aconite  root 
has  been  reduced  from  35  to  10  per  cent,  and  tincture  of  veratrum 
viride  from  40  per  cent,  to  10  per  cent.  It  is  said  that  this  was 
done  in  accordance  with  the  plan  of  the  International  Convention 
held  at  Brussels  two  years  ago,  to  make  all  tinctures  of  potent  drugs 
of  a  uniform  strength.  This  country  is  the  first  country  in  which 
the  recommendation  has  been  officially  adopted,  with  some  excep- 
tions. 
The  employment  of  synthetic  remedies,  first  introduced  in  this 
country  about  two  decades  ago,  has  had  its  influence  on  pharma- 
ceutical manufacture.  The  number  of  synthetics  employed  as  reme- 
dial agents  is  steadily  increasing.  While  some  of  them  have  come 
into  disrepute  as  medicinal  agents  and  their  use  as  such  discontinued, 
new  ones  are  being  introduced  from  time  to  time  to  take  their  places. 
Thus  it  is  customary  for  the  physician  in  prescribing  to  relieve  pain, 
instead  of  using  old-time  remedies  to  remove  the  cause  of  the  pain, 
he  removes  the  pain  almost  instantly  by  the  use  of  a  synthetic 
