Cortex Aurantii,-Cortex Limonis.-These should be kept cool, dry, and in the dark.

Hydrarg. C. Creta,-Is liable to become oxidized if long exposed to the action of the air, and to become contaminated with peroxide if exposed to the action of both air and light.

Potassa Sulphurata-Stock should be distributed in small bottles sealed down, and should be rejected when it ceases to have an aloetic fracture.

GENERAL DIRECTIONS.

Essential Oils,-Should be kept in a cool place and not exposed to direct sunlight.

Extracts,-Should be kept excluded from the air as far as possible, and in a dry, cool place, to prevent evaporation and the development of fungoid growth.

Infusions, Should be kept in a cool place, whether freshly prepared or in a concentrated form. Those which contain essential oils, such as Cascarilla, ought not to be filtered; this, though frequently done, especially with concentrated infusions, greatly deteriorates their value.

Juices, Should be kept in a cool, dry place. Lemon and lime juice, when freshly expressed, must be allowed to deposit the albuminous matter, and the juice should then be bottled off, taking care that the bottles are nearly filled; they must then be corked and tightly sealed.

Leaves, Should be kept in tins or bottles in a cool place, and the stock of English Leaves, as Conium, Hyoscyamus, Digitalis, Belladonna, and Stramonium, renewed annually.

Lozenges,-Should be kept as dry as possible; a moderate warmth is not objectionable.

Ointments, Ought to be kept in a cool, dark place, and it is of the greatest importance to thoroughly scald and well dry the jar before putting in the fresh stock.

Pill Masses,-Should be kept in jars well covered, and in a cool, dry place, to prevent the dissipation of essential oils, and the mass from becoming dry and hard.

Powders, Should be kept in a cool place and not exposed to a strong light, as light tends to bleach some powders and oxidize those containing essential oils. Heat renders valueless many powders by dissipating the essential oils they contain.

Roots,-Should be kept in a dry, airy place; and in the case of rhubarb and others, which are liable to be attacked by insects, as soon as it is noticed that this is the case, the portion so affected should be separated from the bulk, for if this is not done the whole will soon be attacked.

Silver Salts,-Should be kept from contact with organic substances, and not exposed to the light.

Suppositories, Pessaries and Bougies,-Should be kept in a cool place.

Syrups, Should be stored in a cool place. In storing, care should be taken that the cork is loosely inserted; if the syrup should ferment, the best plan to stop fermentation and drive off air and carbonic acid gas, is to heat it to about 120° Fah.

Tinctures, Wines and Spirituous Preparations Generally,Should be kept cool and not exposed to a strong light.

ON GLYCONATED EMULSION OF COD LIVER OIL.*

BY T. D. M'ELHENIE, PH. G.

The writer desires to call the attention of the profession to a new combination of this valuable agent The formula, somewhat modified, is that proposed by Dr. Geo. M. Beard in the "Archives of Electrology and Neurology" for May, 1874. I have prepared the emulsion frequently for Dr. Bartlett, of this place, who esteems it highly as a brain and nerve food, and in an atonic condition of the nervous system. It is well borne by the most delicate stomach; and when well prepared, will keep sweet a long time. Below are given the formula and details which the operator will appreciate after using. First prepare glyconin 3xviii by thoroughly triturating in a halfgallon mortar

And triturate until the mixture thickens and becomes a creamy

yellow.

Prepare a strychnia solution as follows:

Take of Strychnia sulphate,

Distilled water,

Jamaica rum, .

gr.i

zii

ziv

Add eight fluid ounces of filtered cod-liver oil very slowly to the glyconin mixture, preferably by steady dropping from a vial having a grooved cork, and at intervals add small portions of the strychnia solution.

All this is to be done by active and constant trituration, the success of the process depending upon the fidelity with which this is performed. The finished product will measure about twenty fluidounces, until, by subsidence, the air bubbles have escaped. An incidental benefit to the operator is a superb development of the flexor muscles.

As proposed by Dr. Beard, the mixture contained diluted *From the American Journal of Pharmacy.

phosphoric acid. At the request of Dr. Bartlett, I substituted strychnia. He gives the dose, a dessertspoonful, containing 1-64 grain of the salt. Phosphorus in etherial solution, Fowler's solution of arsenic, pyrophosphate of iron, etc., may be readily substituted. The formula, of which this is a modification, appeared in the Junenumber of the "Druggists' Circular."

The "glyconin" without the oil of almonds, soon separates, and with the oil, soon becomes too thick to flow from a wide-mouthed vial.

Experiments, with a view to preparing it in a ready form for all emulsions are thus far unsuccessful, but will be further prosecuted, and the result announced later, if favorable. The writer is disposed to lay stress on the two facts that the above mixture does not nauseate and does not separate.

The designation "Glyconated Emulsion may serve a good purpose when, from idiosyncracy, the name of col-liver is unpalatable. Flatbush, L. I., June, 1875.

LEECHES IN ANJOU.*

BY C. MENIERE, OF ANGIERS.

If

It is well known to the leech fishers of Anjou that certain wates cannot support leeches, and that the conformation of the banks may be prejudicial to their reproduction, whilst others, on the contrary, yield continually a relatively abundant collection. some industries progress there are others that remain stationary ; for although in Anjou on rare occasions a leech fisher may be seen who uses a net with fine meshes, fixed at the end of a pole intended to stir up the marshy waters, there are others who content themselves with placing their legs in the midst of the swamp and allowing the leeches to fasten on to them.

The fishers usually like calm weather, with not too high a temperature; some prefer to work in stormy weather, before sunrise, or in the evening at sunset. Moreover, upon searching, with the aid of a lamp, the borders of a marsh where the vegetation is developed, a good number of leeches may be found attached to the branches and leaves of certain plants.

Anjou possesses nearly all the species of leeches as well as numerous varieties. There exists a considerable difference in certain species, according to the marsh in which they are found. For instance, the experienced fisher can distinguish the official leech which has lived in a marsh in the midst of vegetation, for in other

* From the Repertoire de Pharmacie, iii., 306.

conditions it no longer presents the same character. It is also believed by some persons that the colour of the water influences the colour of the leech, and the greater or less development of the characters by means of which they are classified. Although the author attributes only a secondary importance to this point, he considers that the chemical nature of the water affects the abundance or scarcity of the leeches. Thus they are not found in the calcareous ferruginous waters, whilst the waters reposing upon schist beds, which are slimy at the bottom and charged with aluminous debris, yield seven or eight species.

The author describes some leeches as parasites and some as sedentary. He uses the term "parasite" because, for instance, the leech of the species Pisciola piscium, as soon as it possesses sufficient agility, attaches itself to the tench, roach, or back of the young pike, making its way to the neighbourhood of the gills, sucking the blood and growing; neither is it detached until it is well gorged and developed. Hence this species is found not only in ditches and marshes, but also in open water in rivers, among stones, and especially slates.

The Hirundo geometra is not rare in Anjou. It never remains in the marshes—at any rate while young-preferring the schistous sides of streams, and clinging to the young fish which seek the borders of limpid streams. These two species, which appear to have the same habits, become in their turn a prey to the pike.

The other species, which he calls sedentary, scarcely quit their native marshes. The Hirudo vulgaris is sometimes carried by the current into a river, but it prefers the running water of ditches, or brooklets covered at the bottom with vegetable debris, such as twigs and branches, which serve it as a resting place. The Hamopis sanguisuga, commonly called the horse leech from its fastening on the flesh of horses turned into the marshes or humid pastures, is always found where the water is shallow, and by preference in that which is miry. It lives very well in water charged with organic matters, and attacks salamanders, frogs, the fry of fish, etc.-Translated in the Pharm. Jour. and Trans.

PHOSPHORUS PILLS.*

BY WM. H. WALLING.

Various excipients have been proposed for phosphorus, a few only of which I shall notice.

At the request of physicians, I have used balsam of tolu, dis

*Read at the meeting of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, and published in the American Journal of Pharmacy.

pensing the pills under water, also coating with mucilage gum arabic and French chalk. The balsam is very easily handled by triturating it and the phosphorus together under hot water.

After repeated experiments with various substances, I adopted the following formula, viz:

Take of Butter of cacao,
Powdered white castile soap
Phosphorous

gr. 300.

gr. 200

gr. 25

Melt the butter of cacao in a capsule, transfer to a quinine bottle, add phosphorus and shake vigorously; add the soap and continue agitation, applying some heat, if necessary, until the phosphorus is all taken up. The mass is easily, if rapidly, worked. Make into five hundred pills, containing one-twentieth grain of phosphorus each. Coat with mucillage of gum arabic and French chalk. They will stand a dry heat of 110° without running together. Their behaviour under heated water compared with other excipients is as follows:

No. 1. Pills made according to the foregoing formula; No. 2, by Bullock & Crenshaw; No. 3, by Warner & Co., and No. 4, made with balsam of tolu.

All were placed in water at 90° F. and heat gradually raised. In two minutes coating on No. 2 entirely dissolved, but pill hard. In five minutes No. I completely liquified.

The heat was now up to 98°, showing little effect upon No.

and none whatever upon No. 4.

3,

In six minutes coating on No. 3 was slowly dissolving. Heat raised to 110° No. 3 coating dissolved and pill with No. 2, slowly separating, but not softened much. No. 4 soft, but retaining form. After half an hour's digestion, Nos. 2 and 3 still undissolved, no change in No. 4. From these simple experiments, we see the relative solubility in the stomach of the various excipients used in making these pills.

One of our physicians made several experiments with some of the above pills, the results of which are given in connection with this paper. These pills can be made of any desired strength, and will keep indefinitely. I present a sample made as above. It is not the purpose of this article to enter into the discussion of the action of phosphorus upon the system, but that its effects and doses ought to receive more attention no one will dispute, especially as it is being extensively used, and in such variable doses.