Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ") 
Dec.  1875.  ]■ 
Vending  of  Nostrums. 
537 
A  caustic  paste  is  prepared  from  100  parts  nitrate  of  zinc,  50  parts  of 
water  and  50  flour  ;  if  this  paste  be  wanted  in  the  form  of  sticks,  it  is 
necessary  to  dry  them  by  as  little  heat  as  possible,  else  they  become  very 
brittle. — Ihid,^  p.  328. 
Decoction  of  Cinchona  Bark^  with  and  without  Acid. — iVIr.  Krog-Jenson 
has  examined  into  the  percentage  of  alkaloids  contained  therein,  and 
found  that  the  plain  decoction  contained  41-43  per  cent.,  and  the 
acidulated  73-75  per  cent.  The  residue  containing  respectively  59-57 
per  cent.,  and  27-25  per  cent  of  the  alkaloids. — Arch,  for  Ph. ^  i873- 
Chloroform. — H.  P.  Madsen  confirms  Rump's  statement,  that  it  re- 
quires a  large  quantity  of  water  to  separate  the  alcohol  from  chloro- 
form. Ph.  Danica  requires  chloroform  to  be  shaken  with  an  equal 
weight  of  water.  Mr.  M.  did  not  obtain  a  higher  sp.  gr.  than  1*457, 
but  by  using  a  fourfold  quantity  of  water  he  obtained  a  chloroform  of 
sp.  gr.  1-490. — Arch,  for  Ph..^  1875,  p.  281. 
Sulphate  of  ^uinia. — The  Swedish  Pharmacopoeia  requires,  among 
other  tests,  that  the  aqueous  solution  must  remain  clear  after  addition 
of  water  of  ammonia  (Kerner's  test*).  Mr.  B.  Lindeman  (Stockholm), 
having  several  times  found  that  solutions  of  sulphate  of  quinia  of 
undoubted  purity  did  not  mix  clear  until  after  several  minutes,  lays 
stress  on  the  following  points:  i.  That  the  temperature  of  the  water 
not  exceed  60°  F.  2.  That  the  water  of  ammonia  have  the  right  sp. 
gr  ;  and  3.  That  the  test  tube  be  only  turned  up  and  down  and  not 
shaken  violently. — Arch,  for  Ph..,  1875,  p.  328. 
ON  THE  VENDING  OF  NOSTRUMS. 
BY  THOS.  D.  MCELHENIE,  PH.  G. 
[Read  before  N.  T.  Alumni  Association  of  Phila.  Coll.  of  Pharmacy,  No-v.  ^d.) 
An  editorial  in  the  "  Medical  Record "  of  October  9th,  entitled 
Shall  it  be  a  profession  or  a  trade  ^.  "  treats  of  pharmacy  in  its  com- 
mercial phase,  and  the  writer  improves  the  opportunity  to  indulge  in 
certain  thrusts  at  pharmacists  as  venders  of  patent  medicines. 
He  diagnoses  an  over-sensitiveness  of  the  pocket  nerve,"  and  holds 
the  following  language  :  "  Some  of  the  semi-medical  preparations  thus 
sold  have  long  since  been  proven  by  analysts  to  be  possessed  of  posi- 
*  Kernel's  test  will  be  found,  "Am.  Jour.  Ph."  (1862),  xxxiv,  p.  417,  and  par- 
ticularly 426. 
