STYRAX 331 



thus. Nor are the various Pharmacopeias uniform as 

 regards the strength of its preparations, or their manip- 

 ulation. The German Pharmacopeia of 1890, for ex- 

 ample, directs for the tincture a strength of 1 :10, while 

 the British Pharmacopeia (additions of 1890), the 

 Austrian, 1889, and the U. S. P., 1890, direct a strength 

 of 1 :20. According to the British and Austrian editions, 

 the fatty oil is to be previously removed by ether. The 

 German directs the fatty oil to be removed by cold 

 pressure, while the United States Pharmacopeia gives 

 no special direction for the removal of the oil. 



In 1889, Mr. Beringer 1 pointed out that the tincture 

 of strophanthus should not be prescribed in aqueous 

 solution, because the bitter principle undergoes some 

 change in aqueous solution by standing for a few days, 

 thereby becoming far more toxic than when recently 

 prepared. 



To the firm of Burroughs, Wellcome & Company, 

 London, (677, 678), is largely to be credited the position 

 occupied by strophanthus in the medical lore of the 

 present day. This is due chiefly to the efforts of 

 Mr. Henry S. Wellcome, through his friend, Henry M. 

 Stanley, the African explorer. 



STYRAX (Storax) 



First mentioned in the Philadelphia edition of the 1830 

 U. S. P., as "The concrete juice" of Styrax officinale. The 

 New York edition of 1830 does not name styrax. The 1840 and 

 1850 editions follow the 1830 (Philadelphia) edition. In 1860, 

 and following, the source is said to be from Liquidambar orientate 

 (orientalis). It is official in 1910. 



Styrax is the product of a tree native to the south- 

 western part of Asia Minor and the adjacent islands. 

 According to Krinos, of Athens, 1862, the earliest allu- 



' (Am. Journ. Pharm., 1889, p. 454). 



