TARTARLITHINE
Tartarlithine was examined by two chemists whose reports indicate that it is an effervescing preparation composed approximately of 20 per cent. of carbonate of lithium and about 80 per cent. of tartaric acid. Thus it is simply another of the hundreds of lithia preparations on the market offered for the cure of rheumatism. This in spite of the fact that scientific investigation and clinical experience have demonstrated that lithia is of very little use in the treatment of that disease. While the advertisement carries the idea that Tartarlithine is a product of the Tartarlithine Company, and that McKesson and Robbins are simply selling agents, we are informed that the business is owned by McKesson and Robbins, who under this style manufacture a remedy for rheumatism.—(Abstracted from The Journal A. M. A., April 23, 1907.)
THOXOS
Thoxos is a “specialty” of John Wyeth and Brother. From an advertising circular we learn that it “offers to the physician a rational treatment for Rheumatism, both the Subacute and Chronic forms, Lithemia, Rheumatic Arthritis, Gout, Sciatica and the various manifestations of uric diathesis,” and that “it is a palatable solution of Strontium and Lithium soluble salts, thirty-two grains, combined with twenty-four minims Wine of Colchicum Seed and a vegetable alterative, in each fluidounce, flavored with aromatics.” This “formula” does not indicate the acid with which the metals strontium and lithium are combined, or what the “vegetable alterative” is; it is essentially a secret preparation. To learn what the missing and presumably active ingredients are an analysis was made by our chemists.
LABORATORY REPORT
One original bottle of Thoxos, John Wyeth and Brother, Philadelphia, was purchased and submitted to analysis. The bottle contained a brown liquid having an aromatic odor and a sweet taste. The specific gravity of the liquid was 1.118 at 15 C. (60 F.) The solution was acid to litmus. Qualitatively the following constituents were detected: strontium, potassium, sodium, lithium, ammonium, salicylate, iodid, glycerin, alkaloid, alcohol and water. By the smell and taste, oil of wintergreen, or methyl salicylate, and oil of sassafras were recognized. Positive tests for a saponin-like body indicated the probable presence of sarsaparilla.
Quantitatively the following results were obtained:
| Ammonia (NH3) | 0.006 | per cent. |
| Lithium (Li) | 0.13 | per cent. |
| Sodium (Na) | 0.03 | per cent. |
| Strontium (Sr.) | 1.03 | per cent. |
| Iodid (I) | 0.46 | per cent. |
| Salicylate (C6H4.OH.COO) | 4.19 | per cent. |
| Glycerin | 19.2 | per cent. |
From the analytic results it would appear that the preparation contains approximately potassium iodid, 0.67 gm. per hundred c.c., or 3 grains per fluidounce; lithium salicylate [Li(C7H5O3)], 0.9 gm. per hundred c.c., or 4 grains per fluidounce; strontium salicylate [Sr(C7H5O3)2-2H2O], 5.75 gm. per hundred c.c., or 26 grains per fluidounce, and some salicylic acid combined with sodium and also in the free state. The total salicylate found is equal to 5.47 gm. of sodium salicylate per hundred c.c., or 25 grains per fluidounce.