Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
April,  1895. 
Distilled  Water. 
195 
be  impracticable.  This,  in  general,  describes  the  apparatus — shown 
in  greater  detail  by  the  accompanying  drawing — the  comparison 
with  the  figure  beside  it  showing  the  relative  size  of  the  various 
parts  of  the  device. 
First,  a  charge  of  15  or  20  gallons  of  water  was  distilled  in  order 
to  completely  cleanse  the  apparatus.  The  first  part  of  the  distillate 
was  found  to  be  contaminated  with  oil  that  came  from  the  new 
water-pipe  connections  through  which  the  still  was  fed.  Upon 
thoroughly  cleansing  them,  however,  no  further  trouble  of  this 
description  was  experienced.  Finally,  the  water  passed  transparent, 
colorless  and  odorless,  and  was  found  to  conform  in  every  way  to 
the  requirements  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  excepting  the  matter 
referred  to  in  note  1,  p.  193.  By  Nessler's  test  no  trace  of  ammonia 
could  be  detected. 
Thus  it  was  shown  conclusively  that  the  water  of  the  Ohio  River, 
at  the  time  these  investigations  were  made,  would  readily  produce 
official  distilled  water.  Not  only  did  the  large  still,  when  operated 
according  to  the  official  method,  produce  water  of  a  quality  to  meet 
the  exactions  of  the  U.  S.  P.,  but  it  does  so  by  continuous  distilla- 
tion, regardless  of  fractionation,  and  it  retains  its  quality  from  the 
first  to  the  last  part  of  a  charge. 
In  considering,  furthermore,  the  conditions  necessary  to  insure 
reliable  test  returns,  it  is  scarcely  necessary  for  me  to  state  that  the 
reagents  were  exceptionally  pure  and  free  from  dust,  and  were  dis- 
solved in  pure,  distilled  water.  The  vessels  employed  to  hold  them, 
and  the  water-bottles  as  well,  were  previously  cleaned  with  both 
caustic  potash  solution  and  sulphuric  acid,  and  all  subsequent  finger- 
mark contaminations  were  carefully  avoided. 
The  water  operated  upon  contained  0  022  per  cent,  of  solid  mat- 
ter, and  the  residue  taken  from  the  still  after  the  operation  deposited 
a  heavy  layer  of  yellow  mud. 
To  persons  convenient  to  clean,  natural  water,  such  a  report  as 
this  may  seem  unnecessary,  but  to  those  who  realize  the  necessity 
in  this  neighborhood  of  a  correct  understanding  of  the  subject,  the 
matter  is  important. 
The  evidence  is  unquestionably  to  the  effect  that  pharmacopceial 
distilled  water  can  be  made,  by  means  of  suitable  apparatus,  out  of 
the  impure  Ohio  River  water.  Under  what  condition  it  subsequently 
alters,  if  at  all  under  proper  care,  will  be  the  subject  of  a  future 
