Practical  Notes, 
{Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Nov.,  1876. 
light-brown  transparent  scales  by  following  the  process  for  the  other  scale 
preparations  of  iron,  taking  particular  care  to  fully  saturate  the  acid  and 
to  avoid  high  temperature  during  the  whole  operation.  If  the  first  pre- 
caution be  overlooked,  a  more  or  less  pasty  mass  will  be  the  result,  and 
if  the  temperature  rises  too  high,  a  pulverulent  salt  will  be  obtained. 
The  scaled  salt  is  freely  soluble  in  water  and  alcohol. 1 
Lactate  of  iron  and  quinia  and  lactate  of  iron  and  strychnia  may  also 
be  obtained  in  brown  scales,  have  a  bitter  ferruginous  taste  and  are 
soluble  in  alcohol  and  water. 
Phytolacca. — Oliver  P.  Hooper  gives  the  following  formulas  for 
preparations  of  the  poke  : 
Tinctura  phytolaccte  baccce  concentrata. 
Take  of  Poke  berries,  dried,  .  ^xvi 
Alcohol         .  .  .Oii 
Macerate  for  14  days  at  a  temperature  of  900  F.,  express  and  filter.  Dose  for  an 
adult,  half  a  teaspoonful. 
Alcohol  extracts  none  of  the  red  coloring  matter,  and  the  above 
tincture  has  a  brown  color  like  tincture  of  aconite  root.  The  writer 
had  known  the  tincture  of  poke  berries  employed  with  success  in 
chronic  rheumatism,  in  doses  of  about  twenty  drops,  and  combined  with 
compound  syrup  of  sarsaparilla  and  small  doses  of  potassium  iodide  and 
wine  of  colchicum. 
Tinctura  phytolaccte  radicis  compost ta. 
Take  of  Poke  root,  ground,  .  5vi 
Cardamom,  powdered,  . 
Diluted  alcohol,   .  .  Oii 
Macerate  for  14  days  and  filter.    Dose,  as  an  alterative,  10  to  20  minims. 
Unguentum  phytolaccce  radicis. 
Take  of  Fresh  poke  root,         .  .  5ii 
Lard        .  .  .  - 
Bruise  the  root  until  of  a  uniform  pasty  consistence,  and  mix  with  the  lard.  Has 
been  recommended  in  scalled  head  and  similar  diseases. 
The  root  roasted  in  hot  ashes  until  soft,  and  then  mashed  and  ap- 
plied as  a  poultice,  is  unrivaled  in  felons  and  humors  of  various  kinds. 
Cream  of  Camphor. — Charles  Griffith  offers  the  following  formula  for 
1  Ferric  hydrate  dissolved  in  warm  lactic  acid,  according  to  Wittstein,  is  grad- 
ually in  part  reduced  to  ferrous  salt.  According  to  Berzelius,  ferric  lactate  is  in- 
soluble in  alcohol. — See  "  Gmelins  Chemistry." — Editor. 
