Am.  Jour.  Pharai.  » 
October,  1909.  j 
Ampuls. 
499 
AMPULS.* 
Ampuls,  or  "  Einschmelz  glaser  "  as  Hager  calls  them  in  his 
"  Handbuch  der  Pharmazeutischen  Praxis,"  are  no  new  thing. 
Twenty-two  years  ago  Limousin,  a  French  pharmacist,  published 
a  paper  in  the  Bulletin  generate  de  Therapeutique,  describing  what 
he  called  "  ampoules  hypodermatique  "  for  preserving  hypodermic 
solutions  in  a  sterile  condition. 
The  use  of  these  ampuls  did  not  appear  to  appeal  to  the  medical 
profession  until  within  recent  years,  and  then  only  to  physicians  of 
France  and  those  of  South  America,  The  Swiss  Pharmacopoeia  in 
the  chapter  on  sterilization  gives  some  information  as  to  their 
preparation. 
There  are  quite  a  variety  of  forms  of  ampuls.  That  of  Limou- 
sin's was  a  spherical  bulb  with  a  capacity  of  1-2  c.c,  with  a  fine 
drawn  neck  about  an  inch  and  a  quarter  long.  The  most  practical 
form  of  ampul  is  that  with  a  wide  flat  bottom  ;  such  a  one  enables  the 
physician  to  fill  his  syringe  without  the  necessity  of  a  second  person 
holding  the  ampul  for  him.  Some  have  the  shape  of  an  ordinary 
chemical  flask,  while  many  are  merely  pieces  of  glass  tubing  with 
the  ends  somewhat  drawn  out  and  sealed.  It  seems  that  with  this 
last  form  there  is  less  danger  of  breakage  in  the  final  sterilization 
of  the  filled  ampul.  It  is  highly  important  that  the  ampul  be  made 
of  neutral  glass.  Any  glass  with  soluble  alkali  in  its  composition 
will  in  time  precipitate  alkaloids  present  in  hypodermic  solutions. 
An  absolutely  non-alkaline  glass  is  made  in  Germany  called  Jena 
Normal,  i6iii,  and  ampuls  made  from  this  glass  are  now  obtainable. 
Too  much  stress  cannot  be  laid  on  the  importance  of  complete 
sterilization  whenever  practicable.  Some  alkaloidal  solutions  may  be 
subjected  to  a  heat  of  ioo°  C.  without  decomposition,  while  others 
will  decompose  at  that  temperature  and  can  only  be  sterilized  by 
heating  to  500  or  6o°  C.  at  repeated  intervals  for  several  days. 
Hager  mentions  atropine,  cocaine,  hyoscine,  scopolamine,  duboisine, 
physostigmine,  atoxyl,  and  ergot  solutions  as  substances  that  will 
not  stand  heating  to  the  boiling  point  of  water. 
Whether  the  filled  ampuls  always  receive  a  final  sterilization  or 
not  there  should  always  be  great  care  exercised  in  preliminary 
sterilization.    That  is  to  say,  the  empty  ampuls,  whether  bought 
*  Abstract  of  C.  A.  Mayo's  paper  on  "Ampuls  and  Their  Use  in  the 
Dispensing  of  Hypodermic  Solutions,"  in  American  Druggist,  vol.  liii,  p.  379. 
