220 
Oxygenated  Petrolatum, 
Am.  .lour.  Pharrc. 
May.  3901. 
filter  the  ethereal  solution  into  a  small  flask,  washing  the  quartz 
and  the  filter  three  or  four  times  with  stronger  ether,  using  5  c.c. 
each    time.      Add    to    the   ethereal   solution    20   or    25  c.c. 
N 
of  —  H2S04,  mix  carefully  by  gentle  rotation,  and  distil  off  the 
10 
ether  completely,  removing  the  last  traces  by  a  current  of  air. 
Cool  and  transfer  the  acid  solution  to  a  200  c.c.  measuring  flask, 
washing  the  distilling  flask  repeatedly  with  water.  Add  to  the 
measuring  flask  an  excess  of  Wagner's  reagent,  make  the  liquid  up 
to  200  c.c.  and  shake  till  supernatant  liquid  is  perfectly  clear  but 
dark  red.    Filter  off  100  c.c,  decolorize  with  enough  sodium  thio- 
N 
sulphate  solution  and  titrate  excess  of  acid  with         potassium  hy- 
100 
drate,  using  phenolphtalein  as  indicator.    The  number  of  cubic  centi- 
N 
metres  of  _  acid  consumed  by  the  5  c.c.  of  the  extract  multiplied  by 
10 
0-308  1  gives  the  percentage  of  ether  soluble  alkaloids  in  the  extract. 
Laboratory  of 
The  Wm.  S.  Merrell  Chemical  Company, 
Cincinnati,  O. 
OXYGENATED  PETROLATUM. 
By  M.  I.  WiivBKRT. 
For  several  years  a  proprietary  preparation  has  been  on  the  mar- 
ket known  by  and  sold  under  the  trade-marked  name  "  Vasogen." 
This  article  is  claimed  to  be  "  a  more  or  less  oxygenated  mineral  oil 
that  combines  readily  with  active  medicaments,  for  which  it  acts  as 
an  ideal  vehicle,  facilitating  their  absorption  and  intensifying  their 
activity."  The  claims  made  by  the  manufacturers  in  favor v of  this 
preparation,  its  usefulness  and  advantages,  are  so  numerous  and 
sweeping  that  the  American  agents  have  been  able  to  create  quite 
a  demand  for  several  of  the  preparations  of  Vasogen,  despite  the 
almost  prohibitory  price  asked  for  them  in  this  country. 
In  Germany  this  and  similar  preparations  of  mineral  oils  seem  to 
be  better  known  and  more  extensively  used.  Quite  a  number  of 
articles  have  appeared,  from  time  to  time,  in  the  medical  journals  of 
Germany,  reporting  on  the  use  and  advantages  of  oxygenated  vase- 
1  This  factor  is  obtained  by  taking  the  mean  diacid  factor  of  quinine  and 
cinchonidine ;  the  exactness  of  the  factor  will  be  shown  in  my  next  paper. 
