101 
NEW AMERICAN REMEDIES. 
The infusion made with cold water is, in the majority of cases, regarded as 
the most reliable and appropriate form for administration. The infusion made 
with boiling water is objectionable in two ways : firstly, by coagulating the 
cmiilsin , and thus rendering it inert; and secondly, by driving off the volatile 
hydrocyanic acid, if any should be formed. For similar reasons a decoction would 
be even more objectionable. 
The following are forms for the more important preparations of wild-cherry 
bark :— 
Infusum Prttni virginian^e, U. S. ; Infusion of Wild-Cherry Bark .— 
Take of wild-cherry bark, bruised, half an ounce; cold water, sixteen fluid 
ounces. Macerate for twenty-four hours, and strain. 
Dr. Wood* * * § states, that “ the infusion of wild-cherry bark is one of the pre¬ 
parations to which the process of percolation or displacement is well adapted. 
In this way the virtues of the bark can be more rapidly and thoroughly exhausted 
than by maceration alone. When properly made, it is beautifully transparent, 
lias the colour of Madeira wine, and the agreeable bitterness and peculiar flavour 
of the bark.” 
Syrupus Pruni Virginians, U. S.; Syrup of Wild-Cherry Bark. —Take 
of wild-cherry bark, in coarse powder, five ounces ; sugar (refined), two pounds ; 
w r ater (cold), a sufficient quantity. Moisten the bark thoroughly with water, let 
it stand for twenty-four hours in a close vessel, then transfer it to a percolator, 
and pour water upon it gradually until sixteen fluid ounces of filtered liquor is 
obtained. To this add the sugar, in a bottle, and agitate occasionally until it 
is dissolved.! 
This is said to be a very agreeable and active preparation. It is based upon 
a formula proposed by Messrs. Procter and Turnpenny. J 
The above are the only officinal preparations in the United States Pharma¬ 
copoeia. The following are however in some use, and hence we subjoin formulas 
for their preparation. 
Fluid Extract of Wild- Cherry Bark. —The following process is proposed by 
Professor Procter :§—Macerate twenty-four troy ounces of the powdered bark in 
thirty-two fluid ounces of alcohol of eighty-eight per cent, for eight hours ; put the 
mixture into a percolator, and add alcohol until four pints (Ph. Lond.) have 
passed; evaporate the tincture thus made to a syrupy consistence, then add eight 
fluid ounces of water, and again evaporate until all the alcohol is driven off. Beat 
three ounces of unblanched sweet almonds into a paste with a little water, and 
add enough water to make eight fluid ounces of emulsion. Mix this in a bottle 
capable of containing thirty-two fluid ounces, with the liquor previously ob¬ 
tained ; and having corked the bottle securely, shake it occasionally for twenty- 
four hours. Express the mixture, and filter into a bottle containing thirty-six 
ounces of pure granulated sugar. Finally, add water to the dregs, and again 
express and filter, until the whole of the fluid extract obtained shall measure 
forty-eight fluid ounces. The almonds employed in the process serve to supply 
the emulsin necessary to produce the requisite reaction between the water and 
the amygdalin extracted by the alcohol. || 
Resinoid Extract of Wild-Cherry Bark. —This preparation, known under the 
name of prunin , is one of the so-called concentrated preparations now so much 
employed in America and elsewhere. There is no definite formula for its prepa¬ 
ration, but it is no doubt made in a somewhat similar manner to the resinoid 
* Wood and Bache’s ‘United States Dispensatory,’ 11th. edit. p. 1119. 
f ‘ United States Dispensatory,’ lltli edit. p. 1278. 
J ‘American Journal of Pharmacy,’ vol. xiv. p. 27. 
§ ‘American Journal of Pharmacy,’ vol. xxviii. p. 108. 
|j ‘ United States Dispensatory,’11th edit. p. 628; and Parrish’s ‘Practical Pharmacy, 
2nd edit. p. 213. 
