574 
Editorial. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Dec.  1875. 
lie  has  been  well  informed  of  the  dangerous  nature  of  these  nostrums."  We  are 
aware  that  the  stringent  regulations,  as  they  exist  in  continental  Europe,  have  been 
unavailing  in  abolishing  the  vending  of  secret  remedies ;  on  the  contrary,  the  evil  is 
on  the  increase  there,  and,  guided  by  the  experience  of  other  nations  as  well  as  our 
own,  we  have  not  yet  been  able  to  enroll  ourselves  with  the  advocates  of  prohibit- 
ory measures,  as  the  "Record"  inclines,  and  we  still  believe  that  what  that  paper  is 
pleased  to  call  a  "  halfway  measure,"  will  have  a  better  effect  upon  the  public  than 
the  proposed  peremptory  refusal  to  sell  medicines  of  unknown  composition,  although 
we  do  not  expect  that  the  "  Popular  Health  Almanac"  will  sweep  the  host  of  secret 
preparations  at  once  among  the  things  of  the  past. 
Does  the  "  Medical  Record  "  know  in  what  manner  many  of  these  nostrums, 
whether  they  appear  under  the  unvarnished  garb  of"  patent  medicine,"  or  under  the 
more  plausible  and  alluring  one  of  "  specialty,"  are  introduced  ?    The  editor  of  the 
Medical  Record"  will  merely  have  to  inquire  at  any  pharmaceutical  establishment 
on  Broadway  or  any  other  thoroughfare  of  New  York,  and  on  examining  the  pre- 
scription file,  he  can  easily  learn  how  many  proprietary  medicines  pharmacists  are 
compelled  to  keep  because  they  ^lvq  prescribed  by  physicians  j  or  he  may  refer  to  the 
advertising  columns  of  many  medical  periodicals,  and  he  will  find  articles  advertised 
and  even  editorially  recommended,  which  have  been  exposed  as  fraudulent  and 
unworthy  of  confidence  by  the  pharmaceutical  press.  Still,  we  do  not  arraign  the 
m^diCdiX  profession  for  such  shortcomings,  even  though  prominent  physicians  may  be 
guilty  of  the  same. 
Opinions  may  differ  as  to  the  best  way  for  abating  a  nuisance  and  abolishing  an 
evil  5  we  believe  that  a  proper  education  of  the  public  will  do  a  hundredfold  more 
good  than  a  peremptory  prohibition  or  individual  refusal  to  sell  secret  medicines, 
including  such  specialties  as  elixirs  and  similar  pleasant  drinks. 
The  Alkaloids  of  Hydrastis. — The  following  letter  from  Prof.  A.  B.  Pres- 
cott.  University  of  Michigan,  School  of  Pharmacy,  explains  itself : 
Ann  Arbor,  18th  Nov.,  1875. 
Prof.  John  M.  Maisch  : 
Dear  Sir — I  am  under  obligations  for  your  kindness  in  calling  my  attention  to  the  statement  in  my 
report  of  Mr.  Burt's  work  with  hydrastis,  on  page  482  of  the  last  number  of  your  "  Journal,"  that  the 
hydrastia  crystals  were  pale  yellow,  whereas  they  are  properly  described  as  colorless,  when  pure.  It 
should  have  been  stated  in  the  report  that  the  crystals  were  pale  yellow  instead  of  colorless,  because  not 
fully  purified.  However,  it  was  Mr.  Burl's  only  purpose,  in  crystallizing  the  hydrastia,  to  obtain  crys- 
tals of  typical  shape,  for  comparison  with  the  crystals  of  the  "  third  alkaloid."  Mr.  Burt's  notes  state 
that  his  precipitate  of  hydrastia — formed  in  the  filtrate  from  berberina  hydrochlorate,  by  just  neutralizing 
with  ammonia — was  washed  for  some  time  with  water  containing  a  little  ammonia,  then  dissolved  in  alco- 
hol, and  crystallized  directly  from  this  solution.  As  so  obtained,  they  were  pale  yellow,  as  faithfully  rep- 
resented in  Mr.  Burt's  colored  drawings,  and  this  was  stated  in  my  report.  JNow,  several  crystallizations, 
or  else  washings  with  suitable  solvents,  are  needed  to  obtain  hydrastia  colorless.  At  the  same  time,  the 
crystals  tinged  by  traces  of  the  intensely  yellow  berberina,  have  the  same  shape  as  colorless  crystals,  all 
authorities  agreeing  that  they  are  square  prisms,  though  sometimes  described  as  pale  yellow.  In  1862, 
Prof.  Piocter  stated,  in  remarking  upon  Mr.  Mahla's  observations  ("Am.  Jour.  Phar.,"  xxxiv,  p.  144), 
"  I  have  a  sample  of  Mr.  Durand's  hydrastine,  and  it  is  not  berberine,  but  crystallizes  in  light  yellow 
crystals,  of  considerable  size," 
Now,  as  to  the  crystallographic  distinction  between  the  "  third  alkaloid  "  and  the  others — designed  to 
be  shown  by  Mr.  Burt.  It  is  true  that  this  evidence  is,  of  itself,  not  conclusive,  because  square  prisms 
might  be,  under  other  conditions,  obtained  in  needles,  the  angles  of  which  are  not  brought  out ,  but,  as  a 
matter  of  fact,  hydrastia  has  not  been  found  in  needles,  to  my  knowledge,  though  crystallized  under  the 
