Am.  Jour,  Pharm. ") 
Oct.,  1883.  ( 
Commercial  Iodide  of  Potassium. 
497 
82°C.  (180°F.);  pour  the  distillate  into  16  parts  of  ice-cold  water, 
separate  the  ether  and  mix  it  with  19  times  its  weight  of  alcohol.  Spec, 
grav.  •823-'825;  contains  at  least  4  per  cent,  of  ethyl  nitrite,  U.  S. — 
Add  nitric  acid  (spec,  grav,  1*185)  12  parts,  to  alcohol  48  parts,  after 
12  hours  distil  40  parts,  neutralize  with  magnesia,  and  after  24  hours 
rectify  from  a  water-bath.  Spec.  grav.  •840-*850.  If  3  drops  of  nor- 
mal potassa  solution  be  added  to  10  gm.  of  the  spirit,  the  mixture 
should  not  have  an  acid  reaction.  P.  G. 
Spiritus  Camphorce,  U.  S.    Spiritus  camphoratus,  P.  G, — Identical. 
Spiritus  Juniperi,  U.S.,  P.  G. — Oil  of  juniper  3  parts,  alcohol  97 
parts.  TJ.  8. — Juniper  berries  5  parts,  alcohol  and  water  each  15  parts; 
after  24  hours  distil  20  parts.  P.  G. 
Spiritus  LavandulcB,  TJ.  8.,  P.  G. — Make  like  the  preceding  from 
oil  of  lavender  3  parts  and  alcohol  97  parts,  U.  8. ;  lavender  flowers 
5  parts,  alcohol  and  water  each  15  parts,  P.  G. 
Spiritus  Menthce  piperitce,  U.  8.,  P.  G. — Identical,  except  that  100 
parts  are  colored  green  by  1  part  of  peppermint,  U.  8.,  while  the  pep- 
permint spirit  of  the  P.  G.  remains  uncolored. 
ON  THE  QUALITY  OF  COMMERCIAL  IODIDE  OF 
POTASSIUM. 
By  Albert  B.  Prescott, 
[Read  at  the  Third  Session  of  the  Thirty-first  Annual  Meeting  of  the  American  Pharma- 
ceutical Association.] 
Query  16. —  Will  Iodide  of  Potassium  of  foreign  and  of  home  manu- 
facture answer  the  tests  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  f     Which  averages  best  f 
I  am  indebted  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Queries  for 
the  five  samples  I  have  examined,  each  of  which  came  to  me  in  an 
unbroken  pound  package,  bearing  the  label  of  the  manufacturer. 
Three  of  the  samples  were  of  American  and  two  of  European  produc- 
tion. Of  the  latter,  the  one  was  British  and  the  other  was  German. 
In  sending  the  samples.  Professor  Lloyd  called  my  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  European  samples  represented  articles  usually  classed  as 
fine,''  or  "  chemically  pure ''  goods,  and  sold  at  a  price  much  higher 
than  that  of  the  American  articles.  Upon  the  manufacturers'  labels, 
the  American  and  British  samples  bore,  with  well-known  names,  no 
claim  or  specification  as  to  the  degree  of  purity,  or  grade  of  use,  of  the 
articles,  but  the  German  sample  had  the  familiar  inscription,  Ph. 
32 
