THE CODEX AND THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 117 
enough, others partake of the character of black dose; they are prepared when 
required, and admit of considerable variation. 
.Bouillons are broths made with the flesh of animals, with or without the 
addition of herbs or vegetables; they may be made of veal, chicken, turtle, 
frogs, or snails. 
Emulsions are liquids having a milky appearance, and are prepared either 
with water alone or by the aid of mucilage, yolk of egg, or milk. 
Mucilages are of quince seeds, gum arabic, and tragacanth. 
Potions are preparation*the composition of which is extremely variable, and 
are ordered by the prescriber when required ; they are in reality prescriptions for 
liquid medicines, and, with one or two exceptions, can be prepared at once, in a 
very short space of time; the exceptions, and these would perhaps more properly 
have been placed elsewhere, are camphor-water and tar-water, which require 
from twenty-four to forty-eight hours for their preparation ; some of these 
potions contain a considerable portion of mucilaginous principles and are then 
called Loochs. 334, Looch Huileux, or Looch of Oil, will serve as an ex¬ 
ample of composition:— 
Oil of sweet almonds . . . 
Fifteen grammes . . 
15 
Powder of gum arabic . . . 
Fifteen grammes . . 
15 
Syrup of gum. 
Thirty grammes . . 
30 
Distilled orange-flower water 
Fifteen grammes . . 
15 
Water. 
One hundred grammes 
100 
Mix, S. A. 
Chapters 34, 35, and 36 contain Alcoholic Tinctures, Alcoolatures, 
Ethereal Tinctures. 
Three degrees of strength of spirit are used in preparing the tinctures, accord¬ 
ing to the nature of the ingredients, as extractive, resinous, or oily principle is 
in the ascendant. Thus there is spirit at 60, 80, and 90 per cent. 
The Alcoholic Tinctures, or Alcooles, are divided into simple and com¬ 
pound, and are prepared either by maceration or displacement; where macera¬ 
tion is directed, no mention is made of agitation during the period of macera¬ 
tion ; for which occasional oversight the P. B. was sharply criticized. There 
are, it should be observed, three exceptions to this rule, in the ease of three 
opiate preparations which should not strictly have- been amongst tinctures, as 
they partake more of the vinous character. I allude to Laudanum de Sydenham, 
Laudanum de Rousseau, and Gouttes Noires Anglaises. 
Alcoolatures are tinctures prepared with the fresh parts of plants, as leaves 
of belladonna, flowers of arnica, and corms of colchicum. 
Ethereal Tinctures, or Etheroles, are prepared with a mixture of ether 
and spirit as the solvent. There are only six,—foxglove and cantharides being the 
most important; the latter is prepared with acetic ether. % 
Chapters 37, 38, and 39 .—Medicinal Wines, Vinegars, and Beers. 
The Wines are made by maceration; there are two of cinchona bark, the 
one simple, with red wine, the other compound, with white wine, containing in 
addition to the bark orange-peel and chamomile-flowers; from the nature of 
their composition these wines must be very liable to change, and are scarcely 
desirable preparations. 
The Vinegars are seven in number, amongst which are raspberry vinegar, 
and English aromatic vinegar, and the obsolete Vinegar of Four Thieves, but 
which may possibly have suggested the idea of the toilet vinegars of the present 
day. 
The Beers should be prepared only in small quantities, as they are always 
liable to change. The Codex only furnishes one example—biere antiscorbutique. 
