Still hearing of the non-success of some pharmacists in preparing soap liniment, I was induced to try a few experiments with it. Not being troubled by its congealing in cold weather, if properly prepared, my experiments were turned to making some that would congeal, and observe where the difference was. Knowing that a great many substitute stronger alcohol for alcohol, in the formula, and also that the sawdust and scrapings of dried soap are generally used, which, although both are wrong, are very apt, one or the other, to be used, especially the latter, without due allowance being made.

But let us see what constitutes "soap." The Pharmacopoeia says: 'Soap made with soda and olive oil." It does not give its specific gravity; its hygroscopicity is not mentioned, nor any conditions whereby it might be compared. Turning to the Dispensatory, it says that soap contains 21 per cent. of water; and it also gives the chloride of sodium test for water.

I took a sample of soap that had been in the store about two weeks, and had dried somewhat, but after boiling and weighing it was found to have lost 20 per cent. I next. tried the dry soap, and found it lost 4 per cent. And as all the water is not extracted by this process, taking the first experiment, it would be safe to say that 3 per cent. remained, and that 2 per cent. was lost before being examined, making the amount of moisture 25 per cent., which, I think, about represents its condition when we receive it; and, as this condition varies so much, the officinal soap should be in its most stable condition-dry, or in coarse powder. If we always make this allowance for the extra quantity of soap we are adding in making this preparation, we shall not be so prone to attack the officinal formula. It would have been better had the formula given directions for using the soap in powder. If so, it would have read thus:

By comparing the different experiments in the following table, it will be seen that 5 and 6 did not congeal, while I did partly. This, I think, is owing to the use of heat, and consequent evaporation, and to the soap being a little too dry. The given temperatures were taken after an exposure of between two and three hours, excepting the last, which was after twenty hours:

Partly

At 26°. Congealed, Congealed. Congealed. Congealed.

S Partly

At 45°..
Turbid.
At 32°..... Turbid.

Congealed. Congealed.

Cong''d. S

Alcohol,

Alcohol,

Stronger

In making this preparation, the writer would suggest putting all the ingredients into a bottle, setting aside in a warm place, agitating occasionally, and, when solution is complete, filter.

NOMENCLATURE AND LABELS.

BY ADOLF G. VOGELER.

Scientific terminology is divided from the Latin or Latinized Greek; first, for the sake of brevity and expressiveness, and secondly, in order to have a language intelligible to every scientist.

The knowledge of classic Latin had almost entirely become lost to the world, only yet cultivated and perpetuated in the monasteries of the Catholic church, when during the middle age it again became universal, even to such an extent that it was the exclusive language used at all academies by professors and students.

Now it is an imperative necessity to speak a language as done by the respective nationalities. English, when pronounced by a German according to his own mode of spelling, no longer retains its identity; the same, of course, being true in the reverse. Further do we see that, in olden times, letters were formed to represent one certain sound, and no more; and then words were spelled as they were pronounced, and pronounced

as they were spelled. In the course of ages, words changed their sounds, while the lettering remained, and so it came that in some languages four or more vowel sounds are represented by but one sign, and just so mutes made their appearance. Some languages remained remarkably pure from this unpleasant feature, as for instance, the German, Spanish, and also the Italian. This latter language, though not a true descendant from the ancient Roman, being composed of diverse foreign elements, it yet can not conceal its noble origin. In his treatise on the German language, Prof. Grimm sets forth as his first rule in orthography: "Spell every word as thou wouldst pronounce it correctly." Modern Italians adhere to this good rule more closely than even the countrymen of that illustrious scholar; and if we go back to early English, or Anglo-Saxon, rather, we shall find that this same rule holds good with them also.

I, therefore, believe that dead languages, even, should not be considered a playball for everybody, and that nobody has a right to shape them after their own pleasure. The sounds of the alphabetical signs of the ancient Romans have been, I think, pretty well established as being equivalent to Italian or German, with but a very few minor exceptions. Some years ago, a student from an American college maintained that, as Romans had first introduced monkry into England, it might be inferred that those institutions had also perpetuated true Latinism upon our present time, and that, therefore, the English people must have the correct pronunciation. Such, of course, is a very ridiculous theory, since several years, indeed, some of the most prominent universities in England have adopted what is most significantly termed the continental pronunciation. Yes, it is, in fact, that mode adopted by all nations of Europe, with one solitary exception. The Americans naturally follow in the footsteps of their progenitors. I sincerely hope a reform may be worked in this direction, for the sake of principle. Besides that, it is the great diversity grown up from the English system of pronunciation which strikes me, and which, in my judgment, should under no circumstances be permitted to perpetuate itself amongst the members of a profession so scientific and exact. To me it is utterly distressing to hear any given name distorted into so many different sounds. Take, for instance, this: tinctura opii, or opii, or even opii! why not leave the letters their phonetical value to which they are entitled, and call the thing tinctura opii? One will say aqua, another aqua; here you hear vinum, there it is called vīnum; acidi nītrici, or acidi nitrici, and so on indefinitely. Even a given person will not be consistent in his own nomenclature; at this moment he will speak about kino, and five minutes later you may hear him call for kino. Linseed will be designated as semen lini after a bottle of champagne, while a glass of stout heavy London porter will have the effect of changing the poor innocent word to the graver form of līni.

A necessary concomitant of this change of the value of vowels is the even more detrimental transposition of accents. A striking example is furnished by the name dulcämärä, which makes me feel miserable every time I hear it rendered dulcâmârâ! Podophyllin is another fair sample of this class; but, indeed, there would be no end if I wished to continue such illustrations.

66

Let every pharmacist and physician candidly question himself if he was never impressed by such incongruities as here referred to; then if he must answer 'yes," why not, I ask, apply the remedy at once, the only means through which uniformity in our nomenclature can be obtained, namely adopt the continental pronunciation. The first, and at the same time most efficient, impulse to such a reform must and should come from our colleges of pharmacy, as the impression fixed upon the mind of the young student at those institutions will leave their mark forever. I do hope to see a time when students shall no more be reproached by their professors for "broadness," when they call the FLOWERING ASH fraxinus

ornus.

In connection with this, reference may be had to the negligence evinced by the profession in regard to the printed labels used for marking packages. A neat label is very desirable. Not only is it a cheap medium for advertising, but it will, moreover, impress the public with a feeling of confidence towards the person they patronize, and also tend to lessen danger of mistakes in households. For instance, a customer some time ago requested me to tell him what "that" was, producing a package containing some acetate of lead, narrating that his wife had intended to use it for saltpeter in pickling beef's tongue!

But, I was going to say, it is for the pharmacists to educate the public in the use of proper names for drugs. They should never permit themselves to be instrumental in promoting and perpetuating false principles. It should be our constant aim to eradicate those innumerable synonyms in vogue, teaching at the same time one only correct term. is but a few years since the danger constantly imminent from the names of drugs was vividly and sadly illustrated in this city, in the case where gelseminum was substituted for ivy.

It

Amongst druggists themselves it is a common but most abominable practice to use the word "spirit" in the plural form, viz.: spirits of camphor, sweet spirits of nitre, etc. This is utterly wrong, and should not be tolerated, no matter how many people say so. Put it constantly before their eyes and into their ears correctly, and you will see that even the people, that slow-moving body, must ultimately follow in your path. Further, we are in the habit of speaking about "spirits" of ammonia, which should be replaced by the proper "water" of ammonia, or simply "ammonia," for the "spirit" is quite a different preparation. Sweet spirit of nitre must not be designated as spirits nitre dulcis (sic!!). Those alchemistic names like white vitriol, bluestone, butter of antimony, copperas, etc., etc., ought to be discarded; they have served their purpose, and more scientific names may appropriately take their place.

SOLUBILITY OF SALICYLIC ACID IN GLYCERIN.-One part of salicylic acid dissolves completely in fifty parts of cautiously-heated glycerin, the solution remaining clear after cooling, and may be diluted without separating the acid. A solution made with one part of salicylic acid, 20 to 30 parts of glycerin, and 300 to 500 parts of hot water, has been used for some time in the surgical ward of the Bremen hospital.—Amer. Four. Pharm., from Phar. Zeitung, 1875, No. 18.

COMPOUND TINCTURE OF GENTIAN.

BY EDWIN BAKER, SHELBURNE FALLS, MASS.

This tincture should be made by maceration and percolation, the employment of both processes being necessary to the production of a perfect tincture. When it is made in accordance with the officinal directions, it very soon deposits a pectine-like substance quite too familiar, in this tincture, to all pharmacists. Whether it does or does not contain a part of the medical properties of the tincture, it makes it so unsightly its presence should be prevented, if possible. I have of late, with satisfaction, prepared this tincture in the following manner: Reduce the gentian root, bitter orange peel and cardamom to a No. 40 powder; mix them in a wide-mouth bottle with twenty-eight fluid ounces of a menstruum composed of equal parts of strong alcohol and water; macerate for seven days, observing to agitate the mixture two or three times each day; then transfer it to a glass percolator provided with a sponge diaphraghm; return the first two fluid ounces to the percolate to the percolator, and rinse the receiving bottle with a small quantity of the menstruum employed; when the liquid has disappeared from the surface of the solids, press the latter firmly, and slowly add sufficient menstruum to make the tincture measure two pints. Of course a larger quantity can be made at a time just as well, and in most instances will be.

This process produces a tincture as perfect as the most fastidious can desire. I have applied this process of manipulation to the compound infusion of gentian with equally pleasing results.

MEDICAL AND PHARMACEUTICAL EDUCATION.

To the Editor of the Pharmacist:

Allow me to congratulate the medical profession, through the columns of your journal, that there has been found one able champion of “Reform among them, in the person of Dr. Wm. S. Edgar, editor of the St. Louis Medical Journal, and late President of the Medical Editors' Association at Louisville. In an able, scholarly address, he has pointed to the growing evil of graduating from our medical schools men who possess no fitting education or preparation for the responsible duties of the physician. Dr. Edgar is not alone in his position of antagonism to a system of education which is gradually but surely reducing the value of a diploma to the standard of a quack advertisement in the local newspaper; but he has forcibly given his views of the cause of this depreciation, and has so plainly given the reason for this cause, that but few who read will fail to understand, even though they may be guilty of advertising themselves as "professors" of the college "round the corner. He has chosen to dignify my former communication by quoting from it, to illustrate this evil; and, as I feel a hearty sympathy for him in his self-assumed championship of needed reform, knowing he will be vigorously opposed, I