538 
A  New  Form  of  Calomel. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X     August,  19 19. 
which  were  available  to  us  in  July  of  1914  have  been  diverted  to 
other  uses  or  have  completely  disappeared.  This  is  primarily  true 
of  Europe,  but  its  effects  are  even  now  being  directly  felt  in  the  new 
world.  From  now  on  commercial  credits  and  confidence  will  be 
based,  to  a  large  degree,  on  the  future  earning  power  of  the  people 
in  all  parts  of  the  world.  Those  countries  which  have  been  wholly 
occupied  in  warfare  will  be  called  upon  to  redeem  the  inflated  cur- 
rency issued  by  their  governments ;  they  will  be  called  upon  to  pro- 
duce raw  materials  and  finished  commodities  in  such  volume  that 
a  surplus  over  their  own  normal  needs  will  accumulate  and  be  trans- 
lated into  financial  credits.  In  other  words,  only  a  part  of  a  nation's 
fiscal  strength  will  be  found  in  values  now  existing.  Since  our  de- 
pendence for  the  resumption  and  expansion  of  commerce  will  de- 
pend very  largely  on  the  future  ability  of  peoples  to  earn  an  excess 
livelihood,  and  since  we  must  accept  promises  to  pay  at  a  future 
date  instead  of  demanding  immediate  delivery  of  gold,  we  are  in 
the  position  of  relying  on  the  moral  integrity  of  business  interests 
everywhere  to  make  good  their  promises.  Could  any  time,  there- 
fore, be  more  propitious  for  the  formulation  of  moral  values  in 
business  and  for  a  complete  comprehension  and  acceptance  of  a  code 
of  honor  binding  us  closer  together  and  making  of  the  peoples 
within  the  realm  of  the  Pan-American  Union  an  economic  unit 
working  for  their  common  salvation  ? 
A  NEW  FORM  OF  CALOMEL.1 
A  new  method  of  preparing  calomel  in  a  bulky  and  therapeuti- 
cally highly  active  form  has  been  devised  by  Duret,  and  particulars 
of  the  new  form  are  given  in  the  "  Annales  de  lTnstitut  Pasteur." 
In  view  of  the  importance  attached  to  the  use  of  calomel,  in  the 
shape  of  an  ointment  and  also  of  hypodermic  injections,  his  process 
and  conclusions  are  of  particular  interest.  The  method  is  based  on 
the  following  reactions :  Sodium  bicarbonate  reacts  with  magnesium 
chloride  to  form  sodium  chloride  and  magnesium  bicarbonate. 
Hydrochloric  acid  (liberated  by  the  reduction  of  mercuric  chloride) 
reacts  with  the  magnesium  bicarbonate  thus  formed  to  yield,  again, 
magnesium  chloride;  simultaneously  the  mercuric  chloride  present 
1  Reprinted  from  The  Chemist  and  Druggist,  June  7,  1919. 
