Amjan°^I£arm-}     Copper  in  Galenical  Preparations.  9 
The  following  are  the  figures  obtained. 
(1)  Out  of  16  different  fluid  extracts  examined,  9  gave  decided 
indication  of  the  presence  of  copper,  the  other  7  only  slightly  so  or 
none  at  all. 
(2)  Ten  were  examined.  Not  acidulated,  the  extracts  from  this 
source  showed  but  little  indication,  but  on  the  addition  of  a  trace  of 
sulphuric  acid,  in  several  very  plain  deposits  were  obtained.  Out 
of  the  10,  only  4,  however,  gave  a  decided  copper  indication. 
(3)  Nine  were  examined.  The  same  may  be  said  as  in  the 
preceding  group.  Acidulated  extracts  gave  very  positive  evidence. 
Out  of  the  9,  five  very  prominent,  the  rest  none  or  very  slight. 
(4)  Five  were  examined,  3. of  which  contained  copper. 
(5)  Five  were  examined,  none  of  which  appeared  to  contain 
copper.  They  were  all  alcoholic  and  had  been  standing  at  least  3 
years. 
(6)  Four  were  examined.  The  menstruum  was  in  two  cases 
entirely  alcoholic,  one  diluted  alcohol  and  the  other  largely  aqueous. 
None  gave  any  indication  of  copper. 
(7)  Three  were  examined  ,  each  one  contained  copper,  in  one 
case  very  pronouncedly  so. 
(8)  Only  two  were  at  disposal ;  both  gave  very  bright  deposits. 
Out  of  the  8  different  makes  of  fluid  extracts,  only  two  makes 
gave  no  sign  of  this  metallic  presence. 
In  examining  the  deposit  upon  the  spatula  a  few  sources  of  error 
are  to  be  guarded  against,  viz  :  Fluid  extracts  containing  yellow 
coloring  matter,  such  ashydrastis  or  rhubarb,  may  stain  the  spatula 
to  a  similar  color  as  that  of  the  copper  deposit.  Closer  examina- 
tion, however,  readily  points  out  the  difference,  the  uniform  metal- 
lic deposit  varying  from  the  streaky  one  of  such  extracts  or  those 
containing  resin.  Daylight,  it  may  be  incidentally  stated,  is  best 
for  the  examination. 
In  extracts  from  drugs  containing  vegetable  acids,  such  as  malic 
or  tartaric,  acidulation  may  usually  be  dispensed  with,  as  in  the 
presence  of  these,  the  deposit,  if  any  copper  be  present,  quickly 
takes  place.  A  fluid  extract  of  sumach  berries  deposited  copper 
in  the  short  time  of  10  minutes  upon  the  spatula. 
It  is  a  well  known  fact,  that  copper  salts  are  precipitants  of 
tannin,  the  acetate  being  used  in  the  quantitative  estimation  of  that 
constituent.    Fluid  extracts,  containing  large  amounts  of  it,  gave 
