REVIEWS 299 REVIEWS . THE BRITISH PHARMACOPCEIA, 1914. London : Constable and Go., Ltd. Price ALTHOUGH the medical man, the manufacturer, and the pharmaciet are more directly concerned, the appearance of a ne.w edition of the British Pharrnacopceia is an event of considerable importance to the public analyst and to all who are concerned with the analysis and examination of drugs. The earlier editions previous to that of 1898, reflecting the state of knowledge of the period in which they were issued, afforded little or no practical assistance to the analyst charged with the task of determining by chemical examination the purity or potency either of the crude drugs, the active principles derived from them, or the preparations containing them.The new volume shows a great advance along the lines adumbrated by its immediate predecessor, and as the doctor no longer uses, and the retail pharmacist to a large extent no longer sells, drugs of his own preparation, it aims at dealing with the problems of assaying and standardising in a manner which was not SO necessary, and certainly was not possible, before, In size and appearance and in its general arrangement the new volume is similar to its forerunners.In spite of the fact that 168 substances or preparations mentioned in the 1898 edition, as well as a good deal of descriptive matter, are omitted, and only forty-three new drugs, etc., introduced, there are now 602 pages, as against 535 before. The increase is largely due to the greater attention paid to analytical processes, the special appendices dealing with which now occupy sixty- one pages instead of the forty-one of the preceding edition.In addition to this, considerable progress has been made with the standardisation of crude drugs and the tinctures and extracts made from them, and the number of such, for which processes for estimating the active constituents are described, has been approxi- mately doubled.10s. 6d. net.300 REVIEWS Apart from the above, there are a number ol changes of a general character which are worthy of note. The introduction of the term ‘( mil ” as a subetitute for the almost universally employed cubic centimetre is to be regietted. The only apparent advantage is that it opens the way for the adoption of the terms (( decimil ” and (‘ centimil ” for the tenth and the hundredth part of the cubic centimetre ; but our weights and measures are in a, sufficiently chaotic state already, without the additionof further alternative names for measures already in use.The fact that the quantities of the materials to be employed in making up the galenical preparations are now only expressed in metric weights and measures is a valuable advance; but it is a pity that the imperial system could not have been removed from the Pharmacopceia altogether. The option allowed, in the present edition, to the medical man of employing in his prescriptions either the imperial or the metric system, and the fact that though the medicinal doses are expressed in both, the quantities only approzinzately correspond, may quite conceivably cause trouble to the public analyst when called upon to analyse medicines made up from prescriptions, as the pharmacist might consider himself equally justified in using the approximately equivalent values for the two systems given on p.534 instead of the more accurate equivalents given on p. 533. The difference between the two amounts in some cases to over 11 per cent.The most important innovations for the analyst are the introduction of quanti- tative limit tests for arsenic and lead, with detailed directions for carrying them out, and standards-or, rather, limits-for fifty-five substances in the case of lead, and ninety-one in the case of arsenic, AS regards lead, the well-known colorimetric method has been adopted, sodium sulphide solution being added to solutions of specified strengths of the substances to be examined.Any error due to the presence of copper is avoided by the addi- tion of potassium cyanide, but the possible occurrence of iron has apparently been ignored. As the colour produced is influenced by the nature of the substance in solution, the Pharmacopceia provides that two solutions (one being from twice to six times the strength of the other) of the substances to be examined shall be prepared, the strengths of which are given in a table. These are to be equalised in colour, if necessary, before the sodium sulphide is added, and the proportion of lead present is calculated from the volume of standard lead nitrate solution which has to be added, to make the weaker solution match the stronger in colour.This, though not the ideal way out of the dificulty, obviates the necessity of the analyst being supplied with lead-free specimens of the fifty-five substances which may now have to be examined for that metal. I n the case of arsenic the Gutzeit process has been adopted, and it undoubtedly has great advantages over all other methods for the particular end in view.The details of the official process are apparently based on the work of Dunstan and Robinson; but, with a view, presumably, to the employment of larger volumes of liquid, a bottle fitted with glass tube and cork is now employed instead of the test-tube originally recommended. The delicacy of the test is of course increased, but at the expense of sitnplicity and convenience. The use of 10 grms.of zinc forRE VIEWS 301 each experiment seems an unnecessary extravagance when arsenic-free zinc is almost a precious metal, and the failure to take advantage of the treatment with hydrochloric acid to deepen the colour of the stain on the mercuric chloride paper counterbalances the advantage gained by the adoption of the bottle and glass tube.The methods for the preparation of the various substances for examination hsve evidently been worked out with great care and attention to detail, but the precise object of the procedure recommended is in some cases by no means apparent, and might have been stated with considerable advantage to the scientific worker. This is a criticism which applies more or less to all the descriptions of analytical processes throughout the book.The reader is apparently expected to regard the work as verbally inspired and to follow it blindly, without inquiring too closely into the reasons for what he is told to do. Of course, in many cases these are obvious to anyone with a knowledge of chemistry, but in others it is not so, and very brief explanations or references to already published papers would add greatly to the value of the work.At present its style is too much that of a cookery book, and one feels in doubt as to whether it is intended for the use of those who know nothing or for those who know everything. Another innovation to which reference should be made is the statement in the case of the processes for alkaloidal assay of “limits of error.” This is a valuable feature, but many will feel that a more extended experience is required of some of the newer processes before such limits can with advantage be fixed.Until a process has been in use for some time it is extremely difficult to make allowances for the quite unavoidable errors due to the personal equation, and slight but permissible variations in procedure as between different workers in different laboratories. I n some instances already disputes have arisen owing to unduly rigid insistence on these limits.To the various alterations and additions to the methods for the assay of alkaloidal drugs it is impossible to refer in detail. Very valuable improvements have in many instances been made, though in some the reaBons for the changes are not so apparent.The treatment, on the analytical side, of the essential oils is much more thorough than before, the number of substances for which ash limits have been fixed has been considerably added to, and the value of the whole work as a book of reference has been largely increased thereby. The editors are to be congratulated on the completion of a colossal task, of which only those immediately concerned in it can know the difficulty. That it has been accomplished with such a full measure of success was only to be expected from the personnel of the various committees concerned. We cannot help thinking, how- ever, that, in view of the change which has almost transformed what was once some- thing between a recipe book and & descriptive catalogue into a scientific work, the representative character of the committees of reference might well be extended so as to include one or more public analysts or analytical chemists amongst its number.C. H. CRIBB. In the new edition of the British Pharmacopceia a number of changes have been effected in materia niedica, although they are perhaps less conspicuous than those302 RE VIEWS that have been made in other sections of the Pharmacopceia.Only three new drugs have been introduced-viz,, Cassia Fructus, Ipomctm Radix, and Senna Fructzis. Of these the first is added as the source of cassia pulp, the second as one of the official sources of scammony resin, while the third is frequently ordered by the medical profession. No fewer than forty-seven have been omitted, some of which, such as pepper, mustard, figs, prunes, etc., are regarded as being either sufficiently controlled in other ways or as being commercial products not requiring official description ; while others, such as coca, jaborandi, cantharides, and pome- granate root-bark, have been deleted as unnecessary, because for t heqpeutical purposes they are efficiently represented by their active constituents, cocaine, pilocarpine, cantharidin, and pelletierine respectively.As a result of these omissions and additions, the Pharmacopceia is poorer in crude drugs by the number of about thirty-five. No fewer than fourteen have been deleted from the Indian and Colonial Addendum, and even this number could with advantage have been increased; it remains therefore to b3 seen whether the General Medical Council has succeeded in producing a ‘‘ British Pharmacopceia suitable for the whole Empire.” Amongst the well-known drugs now no longer included are arnica, rhizome, saffron, sarsaparilla, scammony, coca leaves, and elder flowers.Arnica rhizome, coca leaves, elder flowers, and sarsaparilla might well have been retained, as prepara- tions of them are in constant use.Scammony, a much adulterated drug, is suffi- ciently represented by its active constituent, scammony resin, which may now be obtained either from scammony root or, as has been for some years actually the caee, from the root of Ipomcza orixabeizsis. Saffron has in all probability nothing to recommend it but its high colouring value. The new edition exhibits therefore a distinct tendency to replace crude drugs by their active constituents, to exclude those that are not prescribed with sufficient frequency to warrant their retention, and to maintain its conservatism with regard to the introduction of new ones.Conspicuous in the introductory lines of each monograph is the omission of the reference to any illustration of the plant or animal by which it is yielded, an innova- tion that few will regret.How under such a drug as Cetaceum, for example, reference to a picture of sperm whale could afford the slightest assistance in deter- mining the identity or purity of spermaceti, has long been a puzzle to pharma- cologists, and the General Medical Council is to be congratulated on having purged the Pharmacopceia of such absurdities.In the wording of the monographs, a striving towards terseness is very evident, and though it has led to what is in many cases a n almost unpleasant abruptness, the excision of verbose phrases needlessly repeated will probably meet with general approval. When the new monographs are examined, it will be seen that the tests, both of identity and quality, have been considerably increased in number and stringency.The identity of drugs possessing organised structure has been made more precise by an extension of the microscopical characters, while in nine instances the micro- scopical characters of the powdered drug have been introduced. I n these respects a, distinct advance is to be noted, but it is much to be regretted that no definite plan has been followed.The microscopical characters of all drugs employed in theREVIEWS 303 Pharmacopcoia in powder too fine to allow of its preparation by the pharmacist should certainly have been included, and a few others in common use might well have been added to the list ; a favoursble opportunity of accomplishing the innova- tion in a systematic manner has thus been lost.The tests designed to limit the quality of crude drugs have also been con- siderably extended. Gentian root and liquorice root are now required to yield a minimum of aqueous extract ; cubebs and ginger, of oleo-resin ; Indian hemp, of resin; and balsam of tolu and storax, of aromatic acids. Alkaloidal limits have been fixed for aconite root, belladonna leaves, ipecacuanha root, and nux vomica, while liquid extract of belladonna root, extract of henbane, and liquid extract of hydrastis, heve been standardised, although no alkaloidal limits have been fixed for the drugs from which these preparations are derived.The number of ash-limits has also been considerably increased, chiefly with the view of excluding improperly cleaned drugs. No attempt has been made to introduce the biological standardisation of such drugs as foxglove leaves, ergot, etc.This is probably due to the fact that the same drug biologically tested by different workers has had various degrees of activity assigned to it, and therefore, until a standard institution has been set up in which all such drugs can be tested under identical conditions, the introduction of such standardisa- tion is not advisable.For a similar reason, no doubt, no sera have been introduced. While there is manifested in the new Pharmacopceia a distinctly progressive tendency, there is also very evident the desire to adopt as standards high corn- mercial qualities of crude drugs, and to avoid the restriction to the very highest qualities which are often procurable in limited quantities only, and at a cost dis- proportionate to their real value. This principle is the same as that which h.as been adopted in fixing the standards of purity for chemicals, and there is no reason why crude drugs and chemicals should not be treated on similar lines ; indeed, there is much to be said in favour of such a procedure.I n the majority of cases it is quite possible to establish the identity and purity of a crude drug by means of macroscopical and microscopical characters and chemical reactions, while the past ten years have seen a notable advance in the possibility of estimating its quality by means of h e chemical determination of one or more of its constituents.The present Pharmacopoeia is, in these respects, considerably ahead of its predecessor. H.G. GREENISH. The new edition of the British Pharmacopceia, although published on the last day of 1914, had been on view for some three months previously. It is of special interest to analytical chemists, whether practising as Public Analysts or engaged in chemical factories or pharmaceutical laboratories. Earlier issues of the Phsrmacopceia were more concerned with the details of the cultivation of drugs and with their physical characters, than with the determina- tion and assay of their active constituents, and, with regard to chemicals, paid more attention to, and described more fully, processes for their production than methods of testing for impurities.A change has, however, been gradually taking place, and in the volume now placed in our hands less emphasis is laid upon the geographical304 REVIEWS and even botanical sources of drugs, whilst much more attention is paid to the evaluation of their so-called active principles.Concerning chemicals, a pregnant sentence in the preface is worthy of full quota- tion : “ The paragraphs in former issues which purported to be descriptive of the sources or modes of nianufacture of official chemical substances have been made more concise, so far as the requirements of the Medical Act of 1858 will permit, but descriptions of the characters and tests by which the substances may be determined have been amplified and increased in number.” This would seem to imply that the Pharmacopceia, on its chemical side, has become critical and analytic rather than synthetic, Under Aconite Root we find a ba.ro botanical description, but not the familiar requirement that the drug should be the product of plants grown in Great Britain.I t is required to yield not less than 0.4 per cent. of ether-soluble alkaloids-a standard which, although useful, will probably not suffice to insure equality of podency in samples drawn from different countries.Other drugs which are valued by their alkaloidal content are belladonna leaves, for the assay of which a satisfactory process is given; cinchona bark, which has been officially directed to be assayed at least since the year 1885 ; ipecacuanha root, nux vomica, and opium. There would seem to have been a mistake made in the description of the process recommended for ipecacuanha root.The powdered root is directed to be extracted by agitation with a mixture of chloroform and ether; solution of ammonia and water are then added, and 50 millilitres of the clear separated liquid are directed t9 be collected and shaken with 10 millilitres of & solution of hydrochloric acid. This amount of hydrochloric acid is not sufficient to neutralise the ammonia, and, having experienced difficulties in working from this cause, one sought informa- tion as to the genesis of the official process. This was found in a paper contributed by A.G. C. Paterson in 1903, as a result of experiments made by hi1-n i n the Research Laboratory of the Pharmaceutical Society. Prtterson’s work was admittedly founded on that of Frerioh, and he directs that the ammoniacal solution shall be evaporated to one-half, and that then a definite amount of acid or excess shall be added.With this modification the official process seems to give good results. As regards drugs which cannot be standardised to an alkaloidal content - Balsam of Peru is required to contain 57 per cent. of cinnamein, the saponification value of which must be not less than 235, a process being given.Balsam of Tolu is required to yield 25 par cent. of balsamic acids, a standard which has been stated by a competent commercial expert to be too high. Prepared storax is to yield 20 per cent. of cinnamic acid, The important drug Indian hemp is only valued by its yield of extractive to alcohol, but this test will fail to distinguish between the East African and Indian varieties, as the amount of resin may vary even when the extractive is equal-a variation which, with such a potent drug, is of considerable import.There are a large number of ash limits given for crude drugs, but perhaps the section concerning natural products of most concern to the analyst is that dealing with essential oils. For these, very elaborate standards and tests are prescribed,REVIEWS involving in many cases the determination of the optical rotation and refractive index, as well as the percentage of alcohols and esters.On the inorganic side the most interesting part is that which gives limits of lead and arsenic in practically all the chemicals in which they are likely to occur, very definite and exact tests being set out for their determination.H. WIPPELL GADD. THE EXTRA PHARMAGOP~IA. By MARTINDALE and WESTGOTT. Sixteenth edition. Vol. i., pp. xl+ 1113. 14s. Vol. ii., viii + 469. 7s. London : H. K. Lewis. 1915. In no branch of applied chemistry has the war brought into greater prominence our dependence on German enterprise and appreciation of scientific research than in materia medica, pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacognosy, pharmacology, therapeutics, and the analytical chemistry of drugs and other remedial agencies.I t is precisely with recent advances in this group of sciences that the authors of the “Extra Pharmacopceia ” deal in their greatly enlarged sixteenth edition of this comprehensive treatise. The importance of research in therapeutics is prominently emphasised by a synopsis of recent changes in the British Pharmacopceia, and among noteworthy additions to the list of official preparations may be cited the following drugs: acidum acetylsalicylicum, adrenalini liquor hydrochloricus, guaiacol, hexamina (hex amet h ylenet etramine), met h ylsulphonal and phenolpht haleinurn.The greater part of volume i. is devoted to a concise and readable summary of important drugs, oflicial and otherwise, arranged in alphabetical order.The subject- matter under each heading includes the chemical and therapeutic properties of the drug, methods of preparation, modes of administration, medicinal use, copious references to current literature, and a critical commentary on the value of drugs in various pathological conditions.A comparison between British and foreign practice is facilitated by frequent references to the pharmacopceial drugs of other countries, and notably to those in use in the United States. The most recent investigations in therapeutics and pharmacology receive recognition, as, for example, in the sections on anaesthetics, colloidal metals, ionto- phoresie (ionic medication), vaccines, radium, and radiology.In many sections the authors have either confirmed experimentally the data of other investigators or have themselves contributed additional information to the fund of knowledge. Reference may be made to coumaric acid and its derivatives, introduced into pharmacy by one of the authors (W. H. M.), who has also with promising results initiated pharma- cological experiments on colloidal copper complexes and on organic derivatives of antimony’ and mercury.The organic arsenicals continue to be popular therapeutic agents, and the two chapters on this subject have been revised and enlarged. Ehrlich’s claim to a, (‘ therapia sterilisans magna ” is critically examined. Readers of the ANALYST will be specially interested in that portion of work devoted to the analytical chemistry of drugs and other materials of physiological and pathological importance.306 REVIEWS The analytical addenda to the materia medica of volume i.are found in the opening pages of volume ii., which also contains a useful section on analytical memoranda dealing specially with the examination of water, milk, blood, urine, and various physiological and pathological substances.Assistance in the recognition of organic drugs is given in the form of a chart, the substances being arranged alphabetically. The data for these tests were chiefly obtained by personal trials in the authors' laboratory. The chapter on bacteriological aad clinical notes is a concise introduction to the study of pathogenic organisms.A suggestive synopsis of the few observed relationships between the chemical constitution of drugs and their physiological effects is included, and sections of more general interest are con- tributed on organotherapy, mineral waters, antiseptics, and proprietary medicines. The critical revision within the two years which have elapsed since the issue of the fifteenth edition of the enormous mass of detailed information contained in the '( Extra Pharmacopceia '' is a striking testimony to the indefatigable industry and encyclopzedic knowledge of the authors. The entire treatise cannot fail to be of the utmost practical value to all interested in recent developments in pharmacy, therapeutics, and the allied sciences.G. T. MORGAN. NATIONAL PHYSICAL LABORATORY.COLLECTED RESEARCHES. Vol. xi. Pp. 320. The only paper in this volume likely to attract the attention of analytical chemists is that dealing with viscometry (pp. 3-16). Careful perusal of it leaves your reviewer keenly disappointed. Nearly two years ago he prepared for the ANALYST an abstract of a paper descriptive of work done on this subject at the National Physical Laboratory, and published in the Joumal of the Society of Chemical Iizduustry.The latter Journal took the responsibility of curtailing the paper presented to it, and the present writer attributed certain unsatisfactory features of the paper to this editing, and in a, footnote directed those interested in the subject to await the publication of the full text in the next volume of Col- lected Researches (ANALYST, 1913, 38, 397). It is disappointing, therefore, to find that the full text contains little, if anything, of importance that was omitted in the publication of two years ago. The author of the paper determined the absolute viscosity of some light oils at temperatures ranging from 10" to 60" C., using the best means available. The time of flow from a Redwood viscometer was then observed for each of these oils, again making experiment at several temperatures.As a result of these observations, a formula is deduced for converting the indications of this particular Redwood viscometer into absolute viscosities. The reader might be pardoned for drawing the conclusion that the author puts forward this formula as applying with equal truth to any other Redwood viscometer, yet it is well known that the indica- tions of two of these instruments sometimes differ widely.Taking U bbelohde's formula for converting the readings of Engler's viscometer into absolute viscosities, and his own formula for the particular Redwood instru- ment in the possession of the National Physical Laboratory, the author deduces a formula connecting the readings of Engler's and Redwood's instruments.Here, 1914. Price 20s. London : Harrison and Sons.REVIEWS 307 again, the reader might be pardoned for supposing that this formula purported to correct the reading of any Engler viscometer with that of any Redwood viscometer. A careful perusal of the text, however, reveals the fact, not surpris- ing to one acquainted with the shortcomings of these convenient commercial viscometers, that a particular Engler instrument experimented with at the National Physical Laboratory gave indications differing 8s much as 8 per cent.from those which would correspond to Ubbelohde’s formula. For ths two instruments tested, therefore, the author’s formula is this much in error, and if either were changed for another of the same type, the error might be more or less.The result of the whole research seems incommensurate with the labour involved in assembling and calibrating the apparatus used for determining absolute viscosities. The writer may have expected too much from this research. I t was undertaken for the International Commission for the Unification of Tests on Petroleum Pro- ducts, and it is possible that the author was directed to apply himself mainly to a study of the Redwood and Engler viscometers.In their day these instruments yielded good service, and when the choice lay between one of them and, say, the glischrometer” of Thorpe and Rodger, there was no question which must be used for commercial work. But in view of the work of Bingham and his c01- laborators in America, it is reasonable to suppose that these instruments must soon give way to other apparatus, the indications of which can be calculated to absolute viscosities with less than some assigned small error, No very elaborate apparatus is required to keep this error as small as 0.1 per cent., but accuracy of this kind implies very close temperature control, and is unnecessary for commercial work, For many purposes results certainly accurate within 1 per cent. would be very satisfactory.With the resources of the National Physical Laboratory applied to the design of an instrument of this type, it should not be long before the Red- wood and Engler instruments were relegated to museums, and a very great service would be rendered to all who bave to collate, or try to collate, the viscometric measurements of others.Anyone who will take the pains can now determine viscosities with sufficient accuracy. The root of the Redwood and Engler tradition, which hinders progress, lies in laziness, and what is needed is an instrument designed on scientific principlea, but consistent with those principles, with the maximum regard .to ease of manipulation, so as not t o be much more trouble- some in use than the instruments it must displace. Some sacrifice of convenience there probably must be, but it need not be great for work accurate to, say, 1 per cent., and the cost should be less than that of the older instruments, G.CECIL JONES. CLAY AND POTTERIES INDUSTRIES. Being Vol. I , of the Collected Papers from the County Pottery Laboratory, Staffordshire. By several Authors.Edited by J. W. MELLOR, D.Sc. London : Charles Griffin and Go., Ltd. 1914. Price 15s. net. These papers represent some of the results of the research work carried out by the Stoke-on-Trent Pottery School from the time the editor of this volume took Pp. xvii + 411.308 REVIEWS control until it assumed its present dimensions and importance of a well-equipped Institute of Science and Technology. Most of the papers are reprinted from the Transactions of the English Ceramic Society, and those to whom this publication is not readily accessible will welcome their appearance in this handy form. Interest in the subjects dealt with is neces- sarily restricted to a comparatively limited circle of readers, but some of the paper8 deserve wider attention, and may be regarded as models of what industrial research should be, combining a highly scientific treatment of everyday problems with the practical applicability of results. This must be particularly appreciated in respect of an industry which, by reason of the employment of rule-of-thumb methods and the handing down of (‘ trade secrets ” from generation to generation, is in constant danger of stagnation.. In this connection, Dr. Mellor’s addresses on technical education are well worth reading, and from their perusal one may gather the spirit in which work is carried on in his school. The individual subjects include investigations covering a wide range of pottery and fireclay industries. The Determination of Small Amounts of Iron in Clays,” are essentially of interest to analysts, whilst those dealing with the ‘( Chemical Constitution of the Kaolinite Molecule ” and the ( 6 Xomenclature of Silicates ” may be regarded as classical work in this branch of chemistry. The very complete references to previous literature will be of great help to the student. The book is profusely illustrated, and in an introduction Mr. Graham Balfour gives an interesting account of the history of the Institute. A few, such as ‘( The Rational Analysis of Clays ” and R. LESSING.