488 
American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  { 
Am.  Jour.  Pbarru. 
October,  1901. 
Fluorine 
Neon 
Sodium 
19 
Chlorine 
Argon 
39-9  (?) 
Crypton 
82 
23 
Potassium 
39 
Rubidium 
85.5 
Caesium 
35-5 
Bromine 
80 
Iodine 
126.5 
Xenon 
128 
133 
With  a  due  sense  of  the  feebleness  of  my  right  and  fitness  to  discuss  ques- 
tions of  theoretical  chemistry  in  a  critical  attitude  I  ask  your  attention,  fur- 
ther, to  the  inconsistencies  of  the  molecular  formula  and  weights  used  in  our 
pharmaceutical  and  chemical  works.  If  we  subscribe  to  the  theory  that  mole- 
cules are  the  smallest  particles  into  which  any  particular  kind  of  matter  can  be 
divided  without  losing  the  specific  properties  which  determine  its  individuality, 
we  shall  have  little  difficulty  in  remedying  a  few  of  the  inconsistencies  referred 
to.  Avogadro's  law  states  that  equal  volumes  of  all  gases  contain  an  equal 
number  of  molecules  ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  no  one  substance  can  have  more 
than  one  molecular  weight.  I  leave  it  to  the  masters  of  chemistry  to  say 
whether  the  law  of  Avogadro  ought  not  to  be  qualified  so  as  to  read  to  the 
effect  that  equal  volumes  of  all  gases  contain  the  same  number  of  individual 
particles  of matter  (not  necessarily  "molecules"). 
Our  Pharmacopoeia  assigns  to  ferric  chloride  the  old  formula.  Fe2Cl6,  and  a 
corresponding  molecular  weight,  whereas  modern  recognized  authorities  on 
chemistry  give  the  new  formula  FeCl3.  Particles  of  Fe2Cl6  exist  in  the  state 
of  vapor,  and  also  particles  of  FeCl3  at  a  higher  temperature.  Here  the  old 
formula  is  inconsistent,  while  the  new  one  is  consistent,  with  the  theory  of 
atomic  linking.  On  the  other  hand  our  Pharmacopoeia  writes  arsenous  oxide 
As203  although,  so  far  as  I  know,  that  compound  has  not  yet  been  obtained  in 
vapor  of  a  density  corresponding  to  that  formula,  but  has  been  obtained  of  a 
vapor  density  corresponding  to  the  formula  As4Oe. 
May  it  not  be  profitable  to  adopt  the  rule  that  the  molecular  weight  of  any 
vaporizable  compound  must  be  twice  the  number  indicating  its  lowest  possible 
vapor  density,  and  that  the  molecular  formula  must  be  consistent  with  the 
theory  of  atomic  linking?  This  question  is  one  of  interest  as  well  as  import- 
ance. 
The  following  papers  were  presented: 
The  authors  have  shown  that  the  berberine  of  Gaze,  which  is 
formed  by  first  forming  an  insoluble  compound  of  berberine  with 
acetone  and  then  liberating  the  berberine  from  this  compound  by 
boiling  with  a  mixture  of  alcohol  and  chloroform  for  twelve  hours 
under  a  reflux  condenser,  is  not  free  berberine  but  berberine  hydro- 
chloride,  C20H17NO4HCl  -j-  2H20. .  This  assumption  at  once  clears 
The  So-called  Pure  Berberine  of  R.  Gaze. 
By  H.  M.  Gordin  and  C.  G.  MerrelL 
