^'^May'/In'^""'' }  Cincho-^inine.  203 
Now,  while  this  statement  may  be  true,  the  writer  is  not  inclined  to 
hold  so  low  an  estimate  of  his  fellow-craftsmen  ;  may  he  suggest  that 
perhaps  one  reason  for  the  dislike  evinced  by  those  gentlemen  to  the 
use  of  a  machine,  is  simply  because  they  have  tried  none  but  the  old- 
fashioned  one  (which  truly  is  open  to  the  objections  stated). 
For  some  years  past  I  have  used  a  mould  of  my  own  invention, 
which  is  not  liable  to  the  same  objections  as  the  one  above  referred  to. 
My  suppositories  are  moulded  by  the  cold  process  (which  I  deem  pre- 
ferable to  that  of  melting),  thus  securing  a  more  equal  distribution  of 
the  medicinal  ingredients  ;  and,  being  shaped  by  the  machine,  are 
always  equal  in  weight  and  of  uniform  shape.  Mr.  Mattison,  in  his 
article  (March,  1875),  has  fully  explained  the  modus  operandi^  in  refer- 
ence to  the  manufacture  of  the  suppositories,  save  that  I  differ  with 
him  in  preferring  to  use  the  cacao  butter  without  melting. 
Should  any  pharmacist  or  physician  desire  more  particular  informa- 
tion in  regard  to  or  description  of  my  mould  for  vaginal,  intra  uterine 
and  rectum  suppositories,  I  should  be  happy  to  furnish  it. 
CINCHO-QUININE. 
Boston,  April  15th,  1875. 
Editor  American  Journal  of  Pharmacy : 
Dear  Sir, — Our  attention  having  been  called  to  a  communication  by  Messrs.  E, 
SchefFer  and  C.  L.  Diehl,  in  the  April  number  of  the  "  American  Journal  of  Phar- 
macy," purporting  to  be  a  chemical  examination  of  cincho-quinine,  we  desire  to 
remark  briefly  as  follows  : 
The  agent  was  introduced  to  the  profession  in  1869,  since  which  no  change  what- 
ever has  been  made  in  its  composition.  During  this  period  it  has  been  examined  by 
four  pharmacists  :  ist,  by  Mr.  W.  T.  Wenzell,  of  San  Francisco,  in  1870  5  2d,  by 
A.  E.  Ebert,  of  Chicago,  in  1874;  and  lastly,  by  Messrs.  E.  Scheffer  and  C.  L. 
Diehl,  of  Louisville. 
The  result  of  Mr.  Wenzell's  analysis  was  the  discovery  of  two  substances  or  prin- 
ciples which  the  agent  did  not  contain,  and  he  failed  to  discover  quinia,  quinidia  or 
cinchonidia.  Mr.  Ebert  was  able  to  discover  only  cinchonia,  failing  utterly  to  find 
quinia,  quinidia  or  cinchonidia.  Messrs.  Schefter  and  Diehl  find  quinia,  quinidia 
and  cinchonia  5  and  they  remark  (page  159)  that,  "  if  it  contains  cinchonidia,  it  can 
be  present  only  in  small  quantities,  and  they  did  not  search  for  it." 
The  widely  different  conclusions  reached  in  the  qualitative  examinations  made 
by  these  gentlemen  must  lead  the  reader  to  conclude  with  us,  that,  when  an  agent 
is  made  up  of  such  complex  and  delicate  organic  principles  as  are  found  in  barks, 
and  the  tests  and  reactions  involve  deceptive  color-tints  or  forms  of  crystals  with 
such  varying  solubility,  and  when  these  tests  are  so  frequently  fallacious  and  unre- 
liable, the  pharmacist  and  the  chemist  should  be  careful  in  expressing  positive 
opinion  respecting  the  results  of  their  investigations  when  they  differ  from  the  state- 
