Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Aug.,  1875.  / 
Medicated  Waters. 
341 
fore,  and  as  it  has  proven  satisfactory  as  well  as  a  very  convenient 
method,  I  submit  it  for  publication. 
Philadelphia,  June  7th,  1875. 
Note. — The  commercial  licorice  varying  more  or  less  in  the 
amount  of  matter  soluble  in  cold  water,  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  H.  M. 
Wilder  (see  the  March  number  of  this  Journal,  p.  97)  to  use  purified 
extract  of  licorice  only,  deserves  attention.  This  purified  extract  is 
readily  soluble  in  water,  and  for  convenience  in  dispensing,  a  solution 
of  it  may  be  kept  on  hand  of  the  strength  indicated  by  Mr.  Bibby. — 
Editor  Amer.  Journ.  Pharm. 
MEDICATED  WATERS. 
BY  THE  EDITOR. 
Not  less  than  four  theses  on  the  above  subject  were  presented  last 
-spring  by  members  of  the  graduating  class  of  the  Philadelphia  College 
of  Pharmacy.  Although  these  preparations  are  of  much  less  impor- 
tance in  American  pharmacy  than  in  Europe,  they  are  used  to  a  con- 
siderable extent  in  this  country  ;  this  is  more  especially  the  case  with  a 
few  of  the  officinal  waters,  like  those  of  orange  flowers,  rose,  cinna- 
mon, peppermint  and  spearmint.  The  "  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  "  directs 
the  first  two  to  be  prepared  only  by  distillation  from  the  fresh  drugs, 
while  the  others  are  made  by  trituration  of  the  volatile  oils  with  mag- 
nesium carbonate  and  water,  an  alternative  process  being  given  for 
their  preparation  by  distillation  from  the  dry  drugs.  As  early  as  1833 
{"Amer.  Journ.  Pharm.,"  v,  p.  no),  Mr.  Thos.  H.  Powers  called  at- 
tention to  the  reaction  of  the  medicated  waters  made  with  magnesia  upon 
the  salts  of  alkaloids,  and  suggested  the  addition  of  a  little  acid  to  pre- 
vent the  precipitation  of  the  bases.  It  is  surprising  that,  since  that 
time,  no  change  has  been  made  in  our  Pharmacopoeia  to  prevent  the 
contamination  of  these  waters  with  a  body  which,  in  some  cases,  might 
cause  dangerous  results,  if  the  acidulation  of  mixtures  should  be  over- 
looked. 
To  remedy  this  defect,  the  use  of  other  substances  have  been  from 
time  to  time  recommended,  which,  while  effecting  the  minute  division 
of  the  oils,  rendering  them  more  readily  soluble  in  water,  would  not  be 
dissolved  by  this  menstruum.  Finely-powdered  kaolin,  glass,  silica, 
pumice-stone  and  chalk  have  been  recommended  for  this  purpose,  or 
