732 
Purified  Ether. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
November,  19 19. 
press  me  as  of  great  importance,  since  they  are  even  less  marked  on 
the  skin. 
I  tried  also  to  demonstrate  differences  in  capillarity  by  the 
spreading  or  rise  through  filter  paper;  but  the  variations  were  in- 
significant. 
Conclusions. — The  presence  of  potassium  iodide  in  the  official 
tincture  of  iodine  does  not  seem  to  render  this  preparation  more  ir- 
ritant. On  the  contrary,  it  is  somewhat  less  irritant  to  the  skin,  and 
much  less  precipitant  to  proteins,  than  the  simple  alcoholic  tincture, 
or  the  secret  and  non-secret  "miscible  tinctures."  The  more  even 
spreading  and  the  more  rapid  coagulation  of  protein  render  the  sim- 
ple alcoholic  solution  of  iodine  probably  the  best  for  the  "  disinfec- 
tion" of  the  skin;  while  the  delayed  protein  precipitation  by  the 
U.  S.  P.  tincture  would  probably  render  this  somewhat  superior  for 
the  disinfection  of  open  wounds.  The  secret  and  non-secret  "  water- 
soluble  tinctures"  do  not  appear  to  have  any  material  advantages. 
PURIFIED  ETHER  AND  THE  VARIATIONS  IN 
COMMERCIAL  SAMPLES.1 
By  A.  J.  Jones,  Ph.C. 
To  bring  before  the  notice  of  the  Conference  such  a  subject  as 
ether  almost  requires  apology,  for  it  is  one  that  has  received  a  good 
deal  of  attention  in  the  past,  and  little  can  remain  to  be  said  about  it 
that  is  really  new.  But,  after  making  some  comparisons  between 
commercial  brands,  it  was  thought  there  were  one  or  two  points  of 
interest  that  would  bear  consideration,  and  upon  which  attention 
would  not  be  wasted.  As  everyone  knows,  there  is  "  ether "  and 
"purified  ether";  the  former  being  for  the  ordinary  requirements 
of  medicine  and  pharmaceutical  practice,  while  the  latter  is  usually 
taken  as  having  been  specially  defined  for  employment  as  an  an- 
esthetic. Purified  ether,  however,  finds  other  uses,  and  in  some 
branches  of  manufacture  it  is  necessary  to  be  very  strict  in  limiting 
traces  of  impurities ;  but  it  is  not  so  much  the  object  of  this  paper 
to  enter  into  that  part  of  the  question  as  it  is  to  draw  attention  to 
certain  differences  existing  between  what  is  called  by  the  makers 
1  Reprinted  from  The  Pharmaceutical  Journal  and  Pharmacist,  July  26, 
1919. 
