392  ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  TINCT.  NUX  VOMICA. 
B     Cretae  Prsep. 
Pulv.  Gum.  Acac. 
Glycerin  96  (pure)  aa 
Aquae  Cinnamomi,  gxv 
Mix  in  the  usual  manner. 
In  the  revision  of  our  national  standard  I  hope  to  see  glycerin 
substituted  for  syrup  and  sugar  in  very  many  officinal  prepara- 
tions, believing  it  will  in  almost  every  instance  be  an  improve- 
ment. Glycerin  preparations  made  by  cold  percolation  direct 
from  the  crude  drugs  may  advantageously  take  the  place  of 
nearly  all  the  present  officinal  syrups,  possessing,  if  desired,  the 
same  density,  better  representing  their  respective  bases,  and  of 
far  more  stable  character.  Of  this  I  am  satisfied  from  actual 
experiment. 
I  would  respectfully  suggest  to  Mr.  Herman  Koch  an  im- 
provement in  his  method  of  making  suppositories,  i.  e.,  to  sub- 
stitute tin-foil  for  paper  in  forming  the  moulds.  I  have  found 
it  much  to  be  preferred.  Respectfully, 
H.  P.  Reynolds. 
Plainfield,  N.  J.,  July  8th,  1870. 
ADDITIONAL  NOTE  ON  TINCTURE  OF  NUX  VOMICA. 
To  the  Editor  : 
Dear  Sir : — In  answer  to  your  question  appended  to  my  note 
on  Tinct.  Nux  Vomica  in  the  last  Journal,*  I  will  state  that  I 
examined  the  small  amount  I  had  left  for  potassa  and  soda  and 
found  it  to  contain  neither,  using  the  blow-pipe  test,  which 
produced  neither  a  purplish  nor  yellow  color  in  the  outer  flame  of 
the  pipe ;  the  purplish  color  would  have  showed  the  presence  of 
potassa  and  the  yellow  soda.  As  the  above  tests  sometimes  fail 
in  detecting  these  two  alkaloids,  I  used  other  tests,  and  could 
find  neither  soda  or  potassa.  I  next  examined  it  for  ammonia, 
and  the  result  here  proved  the  presence  of  that  alkali.  Tests 
used  were  adding  carb.  soda,  and  heating  ;  the  odor  of  ammonia 
produced  was  quite  strong.    I  next  brought  the  vapor  in  con- 
*See  page  229  of  July  number. 
