Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  1 
July,  1876.  / 
Salicylic  Acid, 
leaves  are  employed  for  scouring  pewter,  kitchen  utensils,  floors,  etc.. 
In  Algravia,  when  pasture  is  scarce,  they  are  cut  in  thin,  transverse 
slices,  and  fed  to  cattle  "  (Rees).  On  the  island  of  Key  West,  in  very 
dry  season,  cattle  chew  the  leaves  for  thirst.  Chickens  eat  the  inner 
tender  leaves  with  avidity.  The  juice  has  a  bitter,  mucilaginous,  some- 
what nauseous  taste,  a  turbid  green  color,  and  an  odor  that  is  truly  the- 
41  stinkingest  of  the  stinking  kind."  It  passes  very  rapidly  from  vinous; 
to  acetous  fermentation  ;  yeast,  raisins,  whiskey,  etc.,  have  been  used! 
with  little  retentive  effect..  It  seems  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  "  cen- 
tury plant  "  cultivation  a  very  lucrative  business  is  something  to  pro- 
duce rapid  and  permanent  vinous  fermentation.  It  ferments  in  about 
30  hours  after  expression.  The  average  amount  of  juice  yielded  is  2 
ozs.  per  leaf,  which,  strained  and  evaporated  to  a  thick  consistence  in 
the  sun,  may  be  made  into  cakes  or  balls  with  ashes,  and  used  for 
washing ;  they  will  lather  with  salt  as  well  as  fresh  water. 
Dr.  G.  Perin,  of  the  U.  S.  Army,  has  found  the  juice  to  be  an  ad- 
mirable remedy  in  scurvy,  and  it  is  much  lauded  by  Mexican  sailors  as 
an  antiscorbutic.  The  pulp,  made  into  an  ointment,  was  recommended 
by  Lenoble  as  an  epispastic,  and  has  been  used  in  veterinary  practice 
as  a  rubefacient.  Laxative,  diuretic  and  emmenagogue  properties  have 
been  attributed  to  the  juice. 
CONCENTRATED  SOLUTION  OF  SALICYLIC  ACID. 
BY  C.  L.  MITCHELL. 
(Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  held  June  2,0th.) 
A  strong  solution  of  salicylic  acid,  for  convenience  in  both  dispensing 
and  prescribing,  has  long  been  a  desideratum,  and  until  recently  no 
practical  way  of  overcoming  the  difficulty  has  been  known. 
Salicylic  acid  itself  is  very  sparingly  soluble  in  cold  water,  and 
though  readily  dissolving  by  the  aid  of  heat,  nearly  all  separates  on 
cooling.  Its  alcoholic  solution  is  not  adaptable  to  the  purpose — for  when 
diluted  with  water,  the  acid  immediately  separates. 
Various  methods  have  been  recommended  for  rendering  the  acid 
more  soluble,  namely  :  the  use  of  various  salts,  such  as  sodium  ortho- 
phosphate,  calcium  chloride,  ammonium  acetate,  etc.;  and  also  by  dis- 
solving it  in  glycerin.  None  of  these  modes  of  procedure  give  a  solution 
which  contains  more  than  \  per  cent,  salicylic  acid.    The  desideratum 
20 
