438  American  Pharmaceutical  Association.  { iJjptSej 
Pharm. 
,  1909. 
Beef,  Wine  and  Iron. 
By  H.  Engelhardt  and  H.  W.  Jones. 
On  several  occasions  it  has  been  claimed  that  the  process  of  the 
N.F.  for  making  beef,  wine  and  iron  is  faulty,  and  that  a  great  loss 
of  nitrogen  and  especially  of  iron  occurs  in  the  filtering  directed  by 
this  method.  In  one  case  it  was  reported  that  the  iron  was  reduced 
to  one-tenth  of  the  required  amount.  The  loss  of  nitrogen,  while 
not  so  great,  was  considerable  enough,  however,  to  bring  the  prepa- 
ration below  the  standard.  It  has  been  recommended  also  that  the 
tincture  of  citrochloride  of  iron  might  preferably  be  substituted  by 
iron-ammonium  citrate,  as  the  latter,  according  to  some  investiga- 
tors, is  not  so  prone  to  precipitation  by  the  proteids  of  the  beef 
extract. 
That  such  great  losses  should  occur,  even  when  the  materials 
used  were  of  the  best  and  the  greatest  care  was  exercised  in  making 
the  preparation,  seemed  hardly  possible,  and  since  this  preparation 
is  one  of  considerable  importance  to  the  retail  pharmacist  as  well  as 
to  the  large  manufacturer,  it  was  deemed  of  interest  to  investigate 
the  matter.  The  authors  conclude  from  their  experiments  that  if 
the  X.F.  formula  is  strictly  adhered  to  only  a  small  loss  of  either 
nitrogen  or  iron  is  experienced. 
The  Assay  Methods  of  the  U.S. P. 
By  A.  R.  L.  Dohme  and  H.  Engelhardt. 
The  authors  give  the  results  of  their  experience  with  the  official 
methods  and  with  some  of  the  new  processes  published  during  the 
last  few  years.  From  many  sides  the  processes  in  which  an  aliquot 
part  is  taken  are  condemned  as  being  faulty,  the  aliquot  part  not 
always  presenting  the  exact  amount  desired.  While  they  agree  in 
general  with  this  view,  the  authors  point  out  at  the  same  time  that 
for  practical  purposes  the  shorter  method  of  taking  an  aliquot  part 
is  sufficiently  accurate,  a  view  which  is  also  taken  by  Fromme 
(Geschaeftsberichtc  C.  &  L.}  1907,  page  25). 
Purity  of  Some  Official  axd  Xox-official  Drugs  axd 
Chemicals. 
By  A.  R.  L.  Dohme  and  H.  Engelhardt. 
This  is  a  continuation  of  the  work  of  the  authors  in  giving  the 
results  of  their  examination  of  about  nine  thousand  chemicals  and 
