BOARD QUESTIONS ANSWERED AN INDIANA EXAMINATION. 11. Select (a) a neutral salt, (b) an acid salt, (c) a double salt, from the list in question No. 8. (a) Copper sulphate, (b) potassium bitartrate, (c) potassium and sodium tartrate. 12. Give a simple test for salicylic acid. On adding to a small portion of salicylic acid, in a test tube, about 1 Cc. of concentrated sulphuric acid, then, cautiously, about 1 Cc. of methyl alcohol in drops, and heating the mixture to boiling, methyl salicylate will be produced, which may be recognized by the odor. 13. Give a simple test for chlorides. With a test solution of silver nitrate, a solution of a chloride yields a white, curdy precipitate, insoluble in nitric acid, and readily soluble in ammonia water. 14. Give a simple test for sulphates. An aqueous solution of a sulphate yields, with barium chloride test solution, a white precipitate insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 15. Liquor calcis is a saturated solution of calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH), in water, and is made of calcium oxide, CaO, and water. Show by equation how this change has been brought about. Ca+H2O=Ca(HO) 2. 16. When exposed to air liquor calcis forms a white incrustation on the side of the bottle, and also deposits a white precipitate. What is the precipitate and incrusted substance and how can it be removed easily? The substance is calcium carbonate formed by the calcium hydroxide solution taking up carbon dioxide from the air. The calcium carbonate incrustation may be removed from the bottle by adding a little dilute hydrochloric acid, which readily decomposes the calcium carbonate, forming soluble calcium chloride and carbon dioxide. 17. When heated liquor calcis becomes milky. Why does heat cause the milkiness, and is it permanent? The heat causes the separation of some calcium hydroxide, as this substance is more soluble in cold than in hot water. Upon cooling the liquid, the calcium hydroxide redissolves. 18. How is calcium oxide made and by what Calcium oxide, commonly known as lime, is prepared by calcining, by a strong heat, some form of native calcium carbonate. The carbon dioxide is thus expelled and the lime remains. The equation may be represented as follows: CaCO3(heated)=CaO+CO2. 19. A solution of silver nitrate in ordinary water is of a milky appearance. It should be colorless. What impurity, in the water, does that milkiness usually indicate? Show by equation. Ordinary water quite often contains some soluble chloride, usually sodium chloride. Silver nitrate will produce a cloudiness or a precipitate if any soluble chloride be present. The equation: AgNO+NaC=AgCl+NaNO3. 20. (a) What is that which is commonly sold as "chloride of lime," and is used as a disinfectant and bleaching agent? (b) How does it differ from calcium chloride? (a) Chlorinated lime. (b) Calcium chloride, CaCl2, is a definite chemical compound which may be obtained by dissolving pure calcium carbonate in pure hydrochloric acid, or by dissolving ordinary chalk or marble in hydrochloric acid and freeing the solution from iron and other impurities by treatment with chlorine and subsequently milk of lime; this mixture is warmed and filtered, the filtrate finally being neutralized exactly with hydrochloric acid. Chlorinated lime is a compound containing not less than 30 per cent of available chlorine, and is prepared by exposing slaked lime on trays to the action of chlorine gas. The exact nature of the compound has not been definitely settled. Some chemists contend that calcium hypochlorite, calcium chloride, and water are produced, according to the equation 2Ca(OH):+Cl, Ca (CIO), + CaCl2 + 2H2O. Other chemists regard the dry powder as having the composition CaOCl2, or CaCl(OCI), which, upon the addition of water, breaks up into calcium hypochlorite and chloride. The preponderance of opinion, at present, is in favor of the latter view. The term "chloride of lime," usually applied to the substance in commerce, is a misnomer. 21. A solution of potassium bicarbonate is faintly alkaline; after boiling it becomes strongly so. Show by equation what change has taken place. 2KHCO K,CO2+H2O+CO. 22. By what simple test can you distinguish calomel from corrosive sublimate? If 1 gramme of finely powdered corrosive sublimate be dissolved in 10 Cc. of alcohol or 20 Cc. of water, it should leave no more than 0.005 gramme of residue. Calomel will not dissolve in either the alcohol or the water. 23. How is a solution of ferrous chloride converted into a solution of ferric chloride? By first adding hydrochloric acid to the solution of ferrous chloride and then adding this mixture, a little at a time, to nitric acid contained in a capacious dish, gently warmed, waiting after each addition until the copious evolution of red nitrous vapors subsides before adding more. 24. The U. S. P. directs that after a solution of ferrous chloride is converted into a solution of ferric chloride, the solution be boiled. Why? In order to insure the expulsion of any excess of nitric acid that might be present, and to complete the reaction. 25. In making of massa ferri carbonatis there is used ferrous sulphate and monohydrated sodium carbonate; in making pilulæ ferri carbonatis there is used ferrous sulphate and potassium carbonate. In each case ferrous carbonate is the salt desired. Why is sodium carbonate used in one case and potassium carbonate in the other? Sodium carbonate contains water of crystallization which would be likely to cause an undesired reaction if left in mass of ferrous carbonate. For that reason the precipitate is washed to remove any excess of salt that might be left in the mass. Potassium carbonate contains no water of crystallization, hence it is used in making pills of ferrous carbonate where washing is not practical. 26. What is a reagent? A reagent is a term applied in analytical chemistry to a substance employed for the identification or detection of individual elements, radicals (ions), and compounds by means of the characteristic reactions which they produce with the reagent. 27. What is a test solution? A test solution is a solution of a reagent whereby the identity of a compound or one of its constituents may be determined. 28. What is a volumetric solution? A volumetric solution is a solution of exact strength of a reagent whereby the quantity of a given constituent contained in another solution can be accurately determined. MATERIA MEDICA. 1. What is a medicine? A substance possessing or reputed to possess curative or remedial properties. 2. By what methods can medicines be administered? Medicines may be introduced into the system through the mouth, they may be introduced directly into the circulation or into the subcutaneous tissue, they may be absorbed by the skin or mucous membrane, they may be inhaled, or may be introduced by inoculation. 3. Explain the difference between volatile and non-volatile substances. A volatile substance is one that evaporates quite rapidly at ordinary temperatures on exposure to air, while a non-volatile substance is one that at ordinary temperatures evaporates either not at all or very slowly. 4. Give an example of (a) a volatile substance, (b) a non-volatile one. (a) Ether. (b) Carbon. 5. What is the source of thymol and into what official preparations does it enter? Thymol occurs as a phenol in the volatile oil of Thymus vulgaris and in some other volatile oils. It enters into the composition of cataplasm of kaolin and antiseptic solution. 6. What is carbon? Carbon is a solid-inodorous, tasteless, insoluble in all known solvents, infusible, nonvolatile. It is combustible. 7. In what free forms is carbon frequently found? Carbon exists in nature in the free state pure and impure, as diamond, graphite, and amorphous carbon in the form of soft coal, hard coal, brown coal, and peat. 10. Give a physical description of sodi bicarbonas. Sodii bicarbonas is a white, opaque powder, odorless, and having a cooling, mildly alkaline taste. It is permanent in dry, but slowly decomposed in moist air. 11. Name a therapeutic use of sodii bicarbonas. It is an antacid. (To be continued.) LETTERS A LETTER FROM PROFESSOR MOERK. To the Editors: Pharmacy-board questions like No. 24 on page 72 of the February issue of the BULLETIN OF PHARMACY cannot be accurately solved by alligation, or otherwise, because it is necessary to know, in addition to the specific gravities, the corresponding percentages by weight of sulphuric acid. Were it possible to solve questions of this kind by alligation based upon specific gravities, there would be no necessity in the U. S. P. or other books for the elaborate tables giving comparisons between specific gravity and percentage by weight. The question reads: "How would you make up a gallon of storage battery fluid (H2SO, specific gravity 1.20) from official H2SO, (specific gravity 1.82) ?" In the first place, the specific gravity of 1.82 does not represent official sulphuric acid, but an acid containing 91.1 per cent by weight of sulphuric acid. The specific gravity of 1.20 represents an acid containing 27.76 per cent by weight of sulphuric acid. In the absence of this additional information and the inability to consult tables, one would be justified to proceed as you have done in answering the question, but it should be remembered that the answer will be considerably from the truth. Taking your answer that 31.22 fluidounces of sulphuric acid having a specific gravity of 1.82 will give one gallon of sulphuric acid having a specific gravity of 1.20, the following will prove my statement: 31.22 X 454.6 X 1.82 X .911 23531.635 grains of absolute sulphuric acid in one gallon. By the same kind of a calculation, one gallon of 32-per-cent sulphuric acid (specific gravity 1.2344) will contain 128X454.6×1.2344X.32, or 22985 grains of absolute sulphuric acid; one gallon of 33-per-cent sulphuric acid (specific gravity 1.2427) will contain 128X454.6X 1.2427X.33, or 23862.7 grains of absolute sulphuric acid. It is evident, therefore, that the finished product made by your formula will contain between 32 and 33 per cent, and will have a specific gravity between 1.2344 and 1.2427; by interpolation, the exact figures will be found ourselves exactly to the question as it was phrased by the board. Answers must be worked out in conformity to the set phraseology. Moreover, we do not feel justified in taking advantage of helps that would not be available for a candidate actually seated at the examining table answering the question. Our solution of problem 24 was worked out from the information furnished by the question as it appeared in the examination paper. We were aware that the specific gravity of official sulphuric acid is not below 1.826, but as the examiner stated it to be 1.82 we felt that the amount specified must be used in our calculations. We were also aware that a contraction takes place when sulphuric acid and water are put together-in the answer as given in the BULLETIN the following statement was made: "When the mixture has cooled make up any loss in volume by adding water q. s. to make one gallon." In taking a board examination, in most States, the applicant would not be furnished with additional information, nor would he be allowed to consult tables. For those reasons he must proceed as we did; indeed, he would have to if he wished to arrive at even an approximately correct solution. Professor Moerk has given us a schoolroom answerand a correct one. We gave such an answer as we felt an applicant would be justified in giving under the circumstances. Professor Moerk's letter brings out, incidentally, another point: there is a certain percentage of board questions which should never be asked in the first place.] To the Editors: HIS FIRST JOB. I have just been rereading the five papers published last September in the BULLETIN on the subject of "My First Job," and I am going to set down the adventures that came to me when I started to learn the drug business. My first job was so easy that I lost it. I was fifteen and tired of school. On the street one day I met the doctor who kept the local drug store, and asked him for a job. Right then and there he gave me the keys. Bright and early Monday morning I opened the store. I hunted up a broom, swept out, built a fire, pulled up a chair, and proceeded to enjoy life. I found a Remington's "Practice of Pharmacy," and before night saw myself a full-fledged pharmacist. During the first month or so I learned that “opium is a concrete, milky exudation," and the many other more or less vital facts that all juniors pick up. I was on the highway to success. But springtime came, and with it an end to my good intentions. I began to neglect the few duties I had formerly performed. Oftentimes the doctor would stay away from the store all day, leaving me in charge with instructions to telephone all calls for him to his wife. I began to take the benefit of these absences by placing substitutes in the store, while I spent the time with a ball and bat in an adjacent back lot. These substitutes may have served just as well as I, but the boss couldn't see it that way. Accordingly, after he found out about three. telephone calls that had been lost to him, I was called to task. Then I had to 'fess up. I made up my mind to mend my ways, but the damage was done, and on the following Saturday night the doctor asked me for the store keys. All this happened quite a few years ago, and I have had several real jobs since. It was valuable experience, however, that taught me what not to do when I went after the drug. business in earnest. EUGENE RIMMER. Tarboro, N. C. NATIONAL INSURANCE IN ENGLAND. To the Editors: Being a regular reader of your journal and noticing an article on pharmacies and drug stores on this side of the big pond, I thought perhaps a short account of our National Insurance Bill and its effect on us chemists might be of some small interest. Previous to the passage of the Bill nearly all the dispensing was done by the doctors themselves. The few scripts (prescriptions) that came our way were generally those of the traveling theatrical troupes, or of those few patients who were under the care of some distant specialist. Under the N. I. B. all workers of either sex, not employers, have to subscribe weekly the sum of three pence or fourpence. The employer also pays a similar amount, and the State provides the rest. For this subscription, doctor's attention and medical and surgical requirements in general are supplied. Free choice of doctors is allowed, but the arrangement between the doctor and the subscriber is for one year's duration only. Payment to the doctor is on a "per capita" basis. but the chemist, who now is the dispenser, is paid on the basis of the work actually done. and of the drugs and appliances actually supplied. Any dispenser on the Government Panel takes the scripts brought to him, irrespective of patient or doctor. Each city or rural area is managed locally, and is expected to be self-supporting. Accounts are sent in monthly, and in this town we have received 90. per cent of the amount due, toward the end of the month following; i.c., by the end of February we got our check for 90 per cent of January's amount. In some parts of the country the amount of the chemists' accounts has exceeded the funds available, consequently the dispensers have had a long wait for their money, and even had to submit to a heavy discounting before a settlement could be effected. Considering that the chemist has no option but to supply what the doctor orders, if such article is on the Government's list, this sort of thing seems somewhat unjust. Middlesborough, England. J. H. WROTHWELL. STRAWBERRIES FRESH FROM THE GARDEN! To the Editors: How would you like all the big red strawberries you can eat, every morning for five weeks, fresh from your back yard? I have raised this crop from a small bed of plants, about 12 feet one way by 20 feet the other, and not only once, but every season for the last six years. My original planting comprised about 200 strawberry vines, and the initial cost was a five-dollar note. Strawberries are profitable, and are easy to cultivate and to care for. The runners make new plants, renewing themselves every year, thus extending the size of the bed. Although some new life in the way of other varieties can be planted in with the old, I do not find this necessary, at least for a period of five years, if some care is taken to keep all weeds away, and the ground is enriched from time to time with fertilizer. Besides the berries eaten during the season, a plot of this size will also yield enough to preserve for winter use. When I started my strawberry bed I was told by neighbors that the robins would eat all I could raise. These birds do give some trouble, being very partial to the season's first offerings, but there is always enough to spare them what they want. My annual crop has averaged between 40 and 50 quarts. I usually do what work is necessary on my "farm" before business hours; that is to say, before I go to the store in the morning. L. H. BALDWIN. New York City. |