Of the substances introduced into the Materia Medica, the chief are Aconite root (aconiti radix), Extractum cannabis (extract of hemp), Oleum morrhuæ (cod liver oil), Oleum amygdalæ amaræ (oil of bitter almonds), and Potassæ chloras (chlorate of potassa). By Arnica in the last Pharmacopœia was understood the root and herb of Arnica montana; for these, in the present—the name remaining unchanged—the flowers are substituted. The additions to the Materia Medica have been made with judgment, and certainly nothing has been admitted with the exception perhaps of {29} Helianthemum (Frostwort), of doubtful utility, or that has not for some time been submitted to the test of experience.
The preparations introduced are all familiar to the pharmaceutist, and have for a long time been kept in most good shops. It is singular that in the last Pharmacopœia, by nitrate of silver was understood the fused nitrate. This oversight has been corrected, and by Argenti nitras now is understood the salt in crystals, while the common lunar caustic is Argenti nitras fusa. Among the new preparations are the active principles of Aconitum Napellus (Aconitia), Oxide of Silver, Iodide of Arsenic, Chloroform, Collodion, a number of fluid extracts, Citrate of Iron, Glycerine, Solution of Citrate of Magnesia, the oils of Copaiba, Tobacco, and Valerian, Iodide of Lead, Potassa cum calce, Bromide of Potassium, Syrup of Wild Cherry bark—of gum—and Tinctures of Aconite root, Kino, and Nux Vomica, and compound tincture of Cardamom.
The Iron by hydrogen, as it has been sometimes rather awkwardly termed, the Fer réduit of the French, after the British Pharmacopœias, is termed Ferri pulvis, powder of iron. Soubeiran’s formula for the preparation of Donovan’s Liquor (Liquor Arsenici et Hydrargyri Iodidi) is given as much simpler and of easier preparation than the original formula of Donovan; there is, too, a good formula for the extemporaneous preparations of pills of iodide of iron. The solution of the Persesquinitrate of Iron, as it has been sometimes termed, appears as solution of Nitrate of Iron; it is a preparation that soon becomes altered by keeping. Tincture of Aconite root is directed to be made by macerating a pound of bruised Aconite root for fourteen days with two pints of alcohol, expressing and filtering. A process by percolation is also given. This is weaker than the tincture of either of the British Pharmacopœias, and weaker, we believe, than the tincture ordinarily employed here. As an external application, for which it is chiefly used, this is a great disadvantage, and when administered internally, the varying strength of a medicine so powerful will be attended with serious evils.
The old formulæ for the preparation of the alcoholic extract of aconite and of the extractum aconiti (expressed juice), are retained, both being made from the leaves. The extracts when thus made, even when properly prepared, are for the most part inert. No formula is given for the preparation of an alcoholic extract from the root.
There are three new preparations among the ointments:—Unguentum Belladonnæ, Potassii Iodidi, and Sulphuris Iodidi. The ointment of Iodide {30} of Potassium is directed to be made by dissolving a drachm of the iodide in a drachm of boiling water, and afterwards incorporating the solution with the lard.
On the whole, there is much more to praise than to find fault with in the Pharmacopœia. Upon some of the preparations we will hereafter find further occasion perhaps to comment.
PHARMACEUTICAL CONVENTION.
In pursuance of a call issued by the College of Pharmacy of the City of New York, a Committee of Delegates from the different Colleges of Pharmacy in the United States assembled at the College Rooms in New York at 5 o’clock P. M. on Wednesday, the 15th of October.
Delegates from Philadelphia and Boston were in attendance. The Maryland College (at Baltimore) and the Cincinnati College were not represented, although Delegates from each had been previously reported to the Committee of Arrangements in New York. A communication of some length was received from the Cincinnati Delegation.