ON LINIMENTUM SAPONIS. 
207 
from this admission are therefore accustomed to deviate from 
their standard. 
In connection with the subject, there are some facts which, 
although not new, are worthy of reconsideration. As re- 
gards the kinds of soap officinal in the Pharmacopoeias of 
Great Britain and the United States, there is a difference. 
By the first named authorities are specified : 
1. Sapo L. " Sapo ex olivse oleo et Soda confectus." 
Sapo Durus, Ed. Dub. " Spanish or Castile soap made with 
olive oil and soda." 
2. Sapo Mollis, L. E. D. " Sapo ex olivse oleo et Po- 
tassa confectus," L. " Soft soap made with olive oil and 
potash." Ed. 
The United States Pharmacopoeia directs : 
!. Sapo, U. S. " Soap prepared from soda and olive oil." 
2. Sapo Vulgaris, U. S. " Soap prepared from soda and 
animal oil." 
The object of making officinal the soft soap, "Sapo Mollis" 
by the British Colleges, is not apparent, as no preparations 
of soap are directed to be made from it. In fact, it is a 
coarse article unfit for other purposes than as a detergent, 
A single variety, the first named, then, is the only kind em- 
ployed for pharmaceutical purposes. On the contrary, two 
varieties have been introduced into the U. S. Pharmacopoeia, 
both specifically to be employed, and each of them present- 
ing properties not possessed by the other. These two kinds 
are to be found in the edition of the Pharmacopoeia for 
1820, and were adopted again in the revision of 1830, thus 
being used for a period little short of 20 years. 
Using the same soap {Sapo, Sapo Durus) the formulae 
for Linimentum Saponis differs in the British authorities. 
The London and Dublin Colleges direct a larger proportion 
of soap and less camphor to the pint of fluid, and this latter 
is the spirit of rosemary. While the Edinburgh College, 
employing less soap and more camphor, direct the solvent 
to be oil of rosemary and rectified alcohol. 
