Am.  .Tour  Pharm. 
Jan..  1888. 
}        Fractical  Notes  in  Pharmacy. 
11 
of  mercury  oxides  present.  The  ointment  was  digested  with  benzin 
to  remove  fat,  and  the  residue  treated  with  alcohol  to  dissolve  resinous 
matters ;  the  metallic  residue  was  weighed,  treated  with  dilute  nitric 
acid  and  again  weighed ;  the  amount  dissolved  by  the  acid  was  noted 
as  mercury  oxide,  no  account  being  taken  of  the  possible  presence  of 
other  metals. 
Ointments  sold  as  containing  50  per  cent, 
of  Mercury. 
Ointments  sold  as  containing  33^^  per  cent, 
of  Mercury. 
NO. 
MERCURY  FOUND. 
OXIDE  FOUND. 
NO. 
MERCURY  FOUND. 
OXIDE  FOUND. 
2 
8 
4 
5 
6 
7  1 
8 
Average 
48.  per  cent. 
37.375  per  cent. 
49.125  per  cent. 
49.  per  cent. 
83.75  per  cent. 
29.4  per  cent. 
42.5  per  cent 
51.25  per  cent. 
1.125  per  cent. 
.75  per  cent. 
2.     per  cent. 
.875  per  cent. 
.5    per  cent, 
trace  per  cent. 
1.5  percent. 
1  6    per  cent. 
1 
2 
8 
4 
5 
6 
7 
8 
Average 
29.6  per  cent. 
33.25  per  cent. 
33.75  per  cent. 
31.75  per  cent. 
26.5  per  cent. 
31.   per  cent. 
32  125  per  cent. 
81.    per  cent. 
.75    per  cent. 
.85    per  cent. 
.675  per  cent. 
.6875  per  cent. 
.5     per  cent. 
.633  percent. 
.84    per  cent. 
.6     per  cent. 
42.5  per  cent. 
1.044  per  cent. 
31.122  per  cent. 
.692  per  cent. 
examined  a 
)\\\iy 
of  boiling  alcohol,  treatment  for  two  hours  with  sulphuric  acid, 
specific  gravity  1.54,  and  heating  upon  platinum  foil.  Each  sample 
was  also  digested  for  half  an  hour  with  an  equal  weight  of  soda  and 
five  parts  of  water,  the  aqueous  liquid  being  then  supersaturated  with 
dilute  H2SO4,  to  determine  the  presence  of  oily  or  resinous  matters. 
The  results  tabulated  are  as  follows  : — 
Commercial  Petrolatum. — John  Gr.  Pattou,  Ph.  G.,  examined  a 
number  of  samples,  as  to  color,  melting  point,  solubility  in  64  parts 
of  boiling  alcohol,  treatment  for  two  hours  with  sulphuric  acid, 
Sample 
Color. 
Begins 
Melts  at 
Alcohol 
Effect  of 
Vapors  from 
Treatment 
from 
to  melt. 
treatment 
H2SO4 
Platinum  foil. 
with  soda. 
New  York 
yellow 
amber. 
28°  C. 
86°  C. 
insoluble. 
considera- 
bly darkn'd 
not  acrid. 
no  oil. 
Philadel- 
orange 
87°  C 
45°  C. 
insoluble. 
slightly 
not  acrid. 
no  oil. 
phia. 
yellow 
darker. 
Bingham- 
orange 
39°  C. 
48°  C. 
insoluble. 
much 
acrid. 
trace  of  oiL 
ton. 
red. 
darker. 
Philadel- 
orange 
39°  C. 
47°  C. 
insoluble. 
slightly 
not  acrid. 
no  oil. 
phia. 
yellow 
darker. 
Cleveland 
yel- 
lowish 
32°  C. 
89°  C. 
insoluble. 
very  slight- 
ly darker. 
not  acrid. 
no  oil. 
New  York 
-dark 
orange 
81°  C. 
40°  C. 
insoluble. 
much 
darker. 
acrid. 
trace  of  oil. 
Cliloral  Iiydrate  is  rabies. — Brown-Sequard  report  a  series  of  experi- 
ments on  rabbits  and  birds,  in  which  he  produced  a  kind  of  rabies  by  injecting  oil 
of  tansy.  This  rabies  he  was  able  to  control  by  the  vapor  and  subcutaneous  injec- 
tions of  chloral.  Brown-Sequard  thinks  that,  from  analogy,  chloral  is  a  pre- 
ventive of  true  rabies. — i'  Union  Med. ;  Jour.  Amer.  Med.  Assoc.,  Dec.  10,  1887. 
