14 



THE NEW YORK JOURNAL OF PHARMACY 



dealing with tliis subject merely attempt 

 to show improved methods of prepara- 

 tion, while others take up the advisability 

 of furnishing concentrated preparations 

 of a stable nature, so that the work of 

 the prescriptionist may be made easier. 

 There are, of course, different opinions 

 concerning this, some authors claiming 

 that such concentrated preparation may 

 properly be used for dilutions, while 

 others condemn them in no uncertain 

 manner. 



E-ecause of the importance of ipecac 

 as a medicinal agent, A'on C. Mannich & 

 Duehrhave made investigations of a num- 

 ber of ipecac preparations on the market 

 with a view of determining their relative 

 values and relative stability. The re- 

 sults obtained are based on the alkaloidal 

 content of the various preparations ex- 

 amined. 



The authors state that in a properly 

 prepared infusion of ipecac there will be 

 found not over three-fourths of the alka- 

 loidal content of the drug which was in 

 fused. This result is confirmed by the 

 previous investigations of G. Frerichs 



The result of the investigation is in- 

 teresting as well as instructive and is as 

 follows : 



Infusion of Ipecac 1-200, contains: 



( a ) When prepared lege artis, 



from a root which con- 

 tained 2.33% of alkaloids.o.oi8% 



(b) When prepared from the 



concentrated infusion 



( I :20 Dieterich ) o.oi 1% 



(c) When prepared from a con- 



centrated infusion (i :2o) 

 acidulated with nitric 

 acid 0.0033% 



(d) When prepared from Per- 



vacuatum Ipecacuanhae 



(fluid t:i) 0.0098% 



(e) When prepared from Infu- 



sum Ipecacuanhae sice. 



°K° (1:1) 0.006% 



(f) When prepared from Infu- 



sum Ipecacuanhae sice. 

 °K° (1:1), other manu- 

 facturer 0.003% 



(g) When prepared from Infu- 



sum Ipecacuanhae sice. 

 °K° (1:1), still another 

 manufacturer 0.001% 



The authors as a result of their inves- 

 tigation have arrived at the following 

 conclusions : 



(i) That a properly jM-epared infusion 

 of ipecac contains only about three- 

 fourths of the alkaloidal value of the 

 drug employed. 



(2) That an infusion prepared with 

 the aid of a concentrated infusion (i :2o) 

 formula of Dieterich contains only two- 

 thirds the quantity of alkaloid, as will be 

 found in a properly and freshly prepared 

 infusion. 



(3) That alkalies should under no cir- 

 cumstances be added. This is sometimes 

 done in order to impart a deeper coloi 

 to the product. 



(4) That the concentrated prepara- 

 tions of the market are unreliable, and 

 that they always contain a much lessei 

 quantity of alkaloid than an infusion 

 properly made. 



Coincident with the investigations out 

 lined above, the authors undertook an 

 examination of the article known as 

 Riopan, wliich is claimed to consist of a 

 concentrated ipecac ])rei)arati()n, contain- 



