PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTICES. 
113 
the  time  the  density  reaches  15°  B.,  the  syrup  having  the  ap- 
pearance of  good  brandy. 
6th.  That  although  eggs  were  used  in  these  small  experiments, 
on  account  of  their  convenience,  bullock's  blood,  if  to  be  had  is 
equally  good,  and  the  milk  of  lime  alone  will  answer  the  pur- 
pose ;  in  the  latter  case,  however,  more  constant  and  prolonged 
skimming  will  be  required  to  produce  a  perfect  clarification,  which 
is  highly  important. 
7th.  That  the  concentration,  or  boiling  down  after  clarifica- 
tion, should  be  as  rapid  as  possible  without  scorching,  shallow 
evaporators  being  the  best. 
With  these  conditions  secured,  it  is  about  as  easy  to  make 
good  sugar  from  the  Chinese  cane  as  to  make  a  pot  of  good  mush, 
and  much  easier  than  to  make  a  kettle  of  good  apple  butter. 
PHARMACEUTICAL  NOTICES. 
By  "William  Hodgson,  Jr. 
On  Acetic  Syrups.  —  Every  pharmaceutist  in  the  United 
States  may  have  observed  the  difficulty  of  preserving  certain 
syrups,  such  as  those  of  senega  and  ipecacuanha,  and  especially 
the  "hive  syrup,"  or  compound  syrup  of  squill.  Many  improve- 
ments  have  been  suggested  in  the  formula  for  preparing  the 
latter,  but  still  we  are  annoyed  by  the  fact  that,  like  the  others 
above  named,  if  made  strong  in  saccharine  matter,  whether  sugar 
or  honey,  it  will  assuredly  crystallize  with  a  diminution  of  tem- 
perature, or  by  long  keeping ;  and  if,  on  the  other  hand,  made 
too  weak  in  saccharine  matter,  it  will  as  inevitably  ferment,  if 
kept  during  warm  weather.  We  all  know,  likewise,  that  we  have 
no  such  trouble  with  the  syrup  of  squill,  in  any  temperature,  or 
how  long  soever  it  may  be  kept. 
These  circumstances  led  me,  in  the  autumn  of  1856,  to  prepare 
samples  of  the  Syr,  Seillce  comp.  and  of  Syr.  Senegce,  acidified 
to  the  same  degree  as  the  officinal  syrup  of  squill.  The  samples 
have  been  kept  in  a  warm  part  of  my  store  for  more  than  fifteen 
months,  and  now  appear  as  fresh  as  when  first  prepared,  —  no 
sign  of  crystallization,  or  of  fermentation,  or  mouldiness,  or  even 
of  turbidity;  though  I  have  mean  time  repeatedly  lost  large  por- 
tions of  my  Syr.  Seillce  comp.  U.  S.  and  Syr,  Ipecac,  by  crystal- 
11 
