280 
Sapo  Mollis. 
Am.  Tour.  Pharm. 
May,  1919. 
metallic  tin  acts  similarly  to  a  soluble  alkali  in  liberating  alkaloid 
from  solutions  of  emetine  hydrochloride,  the  time  required,  how- 
ever, being  prolonged. 
Analytical  Laboratory  of  the 
H.  K.  Mulford  Company. 
SAPO  MOLLIS  U.  S.  P.  IX. 
By  Bertha  Mueller, 
asst.  pharmacist  at  the  lankenau  hospital,  philadelphia. 
Opportunity  has  recently  been  afforded  us  to  try  out  the  U.  S.  P. 
formula  for  sapo  mollis,  and  we  have  found  that  the  formula  is 
satisfactory,  though  the  technic  is  not.  Indeed,  it  is  quite  incon- 
ceivable just  why  the  technic  should  be  so  unnecessarily  cumber- 
some and  unpractical,  when  it  must  be  conceded  that  it  is  an  exceed- 
ingly simple  matter  to  make  soap. 
According  to  the  pharmacopoeia,  one  is  directed  to  dissolve  the 
potassium  hydroxide  in  a  capacious  vessel  by  means  of  heat,  add 
the  cotton  seed  oil,  stir  actively  for  a  few  moments,  reapply  the  heat 
until  the  mixture  froths  due  to  boiling,  add  the  alcohol,  stir  some 
more,  and  then  stop  in  the  midst  of  it  to  assay  the  preparation !  It 
is  only  natural  that  the  question  should  arise :  Why  all  this  extra 
work?  Certainly  just  as  good  a  soap  can  be  prepared  by  a  far  more 
simple  method. 
It  is  common  knowledge  that  artificial  heat  is  not  actually  neces- 
sary in  the  manufacture  of  soap,  and  certainly  not  where  alcohol 
enters  into  the  combination.  It  is  likewise  a  well-known  fact  that 
alcohol  is  rapidly  vaporized  in  the  presence  of  a  high  degree  of  tem- 
perature, therefore  the  small  amount  of  alcohol  in  the  given  formula 
must  perforce  be  largely  driven  off  when  added,  as  directed,  to  a 
boiling  hot  mixture  in  a  capacious  vessel ;  consequently  the  object  of 
putting  alcohol  into  soap  in  order  to  increase  its  detergent  power  is 
defeated. 
It  has  been  our  experience,  if  the  caustic  potash  solution  is  suf- 
ficiently concentrated  and  a  suitable  vessel  be  used,  that  soft  soap 
can  most  easily  be  made  without  the  aid  of  heat  and  with  very  little 
expenditure  of  time  and  labor. 
The  potash  should  be  dissolved  in  an  equal  weight  of  water  and 
