Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  ) 
March,  1909.  j 
Determination  of  Alcohol 
129 
Fluidextract  Hydrastis. — Kollo  recommends  the  following 
methods  for  the  estimation  of  the  hydrastine  contents  by  means  of 
titration  with  Meyer's  reagent.  A  standard  Meyer's  reagent  is  pre- 
pared as  follows : 
13.546  Gm.  HgCl2  and  49.8  Gm.  potassium  iodide  (after  drying 
for  twelve  hours  in  desiccator)  are  dissolved  in  a  little  hot  distilled 
water  and  after  cooling  to  150  C.  are  diluted  to  one  litre;  1  c.c.  of 
this  solution  precipitates  according  to  Kollo  0.0223  Gm.  hydrastine. 
The  estimation  is  made  in  the  following  way :  20  c.c.  of  fluidextract 
are  diluted  to  100  c.c.  with  distilled  water.  Five  test-tubes  are  filled 
each  with  10  c.c.  of  this  solution.  To  the  first  tube  1.5  c.c.  of  Meyer's 
reagent  are  added.  The  second  received  1.6,  third  1.7  and  so  on  of 
this  reagent.  The  test-tubes  are  shaken  and  the  contents  filtered. 
To  one  drop  of  each  of  the  filtrates,  one  drop  of  a  solution  obtained 
by  dilution  of  20  drops  of  fluidextract  hydrastis  with  5  c.c.  of  water 
are  added.  The  filtrate  which  first  shows  a  cloudiness  indicates  that 
precipitation  was  complete  in  the  respective  solution.  The  amount 
in  cubic  centimetres  of  Meyer's  reagent  used  is  multiplied  by  0.0223 
and  the  product  is  multiplied  by  50.  The  result  gives  the  percentage 
of  hydrastine,  which  is  sufficiently  exact  for  practical  purposes. 
Research  Laboratory  of  the 
H.  K.  Mulford  Co.,  Philadelphia. 
THE  DETERMINATION  OF  ALCOHOL  IN  GALENICAL 
PREPARATIONS.* 
By  Charles  E.  Vanderkleed. 
Aside  from  the  economic  and  the  occasional  scientific  interest 
in  the  subject  of  alcohol  determination,  the  legal  aspect  of  this 
subject  since  the  passage  of  the  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  June  30, 
1906,  has  brought  it  into  prominence,  and  the  section  of  that  Act 
which  requires  the  accurate  labelling  of  all  medicinal  substances 
entering  into  interstate  commerce  with  their  percentage  of  absolute 
alcohol  by  volume  has  rendered  necessary  the  improvement  of 
methods  for  the  determination  of  the  latter. 
*  Read  before  the  Philadelphia  Branch  of  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  January  5,  1909. 
