Various are the unworthy practices, one or two of which are thus curtly alluded to, deserving of a more studied notice and severe censure, than I am able or willing to give them. Such matters, though not exactly “putting money in the purse,” should be attended to. The purging of our profession—for it is one—of them, would be a highly meritorious service.
BY J. F. HOLTON, PROFESSOR OF BOTANY IN THE NEW YORK COLLEGE OF PHARMACY.
In the early part of this century, some chemists in Holland found a peculiar oily fluid of very fragrant smell, resulted from the action of chlorine on Olefiant gas. It is generally known as the Dutch liquid; it has been called also chloric ether and bichloric ether. Its composition is C‗{ 4} H‗{ 2} O‗{ 2}.
In 1831, Mr. Samuel Guthrie of Sackets Harbor, in this State, distilled alcohol from the so called chloride of lime, and obtained a product so closely resembling the Dutch liquid that he though it identical. From some relations to formic acid, it was afterwards called Chloroform, and chloroformid. Its composition is C‗{ 4} HO‗{ 3}. In 1847, anaésthetic properties brought { 198} chloroform prominently before the public. We find an article by Prof. B. Silliman, Jr., in the American Journal of Science, new series, vol., 5, p. 240, in which it is stated that “the terms chloric ether, bichloric ether, perchloride of formyle, Dutch oil and oil of Dutch chemists, are all synonyms of chloroform.”
In a recent visit of the writer at New Haven he saw a prescription of “chloric ether.” Being reminded of the singular error in the Journal printed there, he inquired into the nature of the article dispensed. It proved to be a solution of chloroform in alcohol, and on his return to this city he found the same practice here to a small extent. The proportions in the article bearing this name vary greatly; often it seems that the mere contents of the wash-bottle are in this way disposed of, containing of course a large proportion of water. Mr. Currie, one of our most careful and consciencious chemists, usually prepares it so as to contain 10 per cent. in bulk of chloroform. A more convenient formula would be, chloroform 1 part, alcohol 10 parts. Some such article under the name of Tinctura Chloroformi ought to have place in our pharmacopœia.