Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1895. 
Distilled  Water. 
193 
tilled  water)  that  will  meet  the  official  requirements.  This  point,  so 
far  as  I  know,  has  not  been  commented  upon  in  print,  with  the 
water  under  consideration. 
In  order  to  determine  if  this  is  possible  on  a  small  scale,  a  half 
gallon  glass  retort,  with  a  bent  neck,  was  connected  with  a  Liebig 
condenser.  The  connections  were  not  luted,  being  made  by  means 
of  corks,  every  endeavor  being  taken  to  avoid  grease  or  soluble 
organic  matter. 
A  preliminary  charge  of  water  was  first  distilled  in  order  to 
insure  the  cleanliness  of  the  apparatus  and  the  connections,  after 
which  the  pharmacopceial  requirements  were  followed.  Upon 
applying  the  most  rigorous  tests  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  no  impurity 
could  be  detected  in  the  reserved  portions  of  the  product.1  The 
permanganate  test  resulted  in  but  a  slight  decrease  in  the  shade  of 
pink,  and  after  standing  for  ten  hours,  loosely  tied  over  with 
two  thicknesses  of  tissue  paper,  every  fraction  maintained  its  per- 
manganate coloration.  This  demonstrated  that  the  water  of  the 
Ohio  River  at  the  time  of  these  investigations  (February  and  March, 
1895),  ^  employed  after  the  method  prescribed  by  the  Pharma- 
copoeia, will  produce  official  distilled  water.  On  a  small  scale  it  can 
therefore  be  practically  produced  by  means  of  any  suitable  distilla- 
tory device. 
Next,  an  attempt  was  made  to  determine  whether  it  is  necessary 
to  adhere  strictly  to  the  Pharmacopceial  requirements  as  to  detail. 
After  suspending  the  operation  in  the  evening,  the  exit  of  the  con- 
denser was  plugged  with  absorbent  cotton  and  allowed  to  rest  over 
night.  Next  morning  the  retort  was  charged  and  distillation  con- 
tinued, the  products  being  fractioned  into  successive  portions  of  100 
c.c.  each,  until  nearly  the  entire  contents  of  the  retort  had  been 
recovered.  These  successive  fractions  were  tested  and  each  fraction 
was  found  to  conform  to  the  Pharmacopoeia,  even  the  first  fraction 
withstanding  the  permanganate  test. 
While,  therefore,  the  Pharmacopoeia  wisely  provides  that  the  first 
fraction  of  distillate  (one-tenth)  be  thrown  away,  it  is  seen  that, 
with  clean  connections  and  proper  apparatus,  every  portion  of  the 
1  Upou  evaporation  in  clean  glass  vessels,  however,  visible  rings  resulted, 
which,  although  too  slight  to  respond  to  weight,  were  perceptible.  Further 
report  will  be  made  on  this  point  in  the  future. 
