179 
ON IPECACUANHA WINE. 
BY MR. GEORGE JOHNSON. 
W r hat is the nature of the deposit in Ipecacuanha Wine, and how is it 
affected by the nature of the wine used? The investigation of this subject 
is one of great practical interest to pharmaceutists, for it has regard to a 
preparation which, while it is one of the most useful, and most used in 
the Pharmacopoeia, is at the same time, in its present form, one of the least 
satisfactory of the galenical class of remedies. Chemical knowledge and 
skill have been extensively and usefully applied in devising formulae for the 
preparation of very many medicines of this class, and in consequence they 
have been subjected to alteration and improvement in every new edition of 
the Pharmacopoeia. The one which now engages our attention has, however, 
been passed by neglected, as being either so unimportant as not to merit 
attention, or already so perfect as not to need it. But practical daily ac¬ 
quaintance with it has convinced us that it is high time attention was paid to 
it. In order that we may more fully comprehend the nature of those changes 
in this preparation, which form the subject of the present paper, let us look 
at the composition of its parts. And first of ipecacuanha root. 
The following is Pelletier’s analysis of the cortical, which is the most active 
portion of the root.— 
Emetina . . . 
. . 16 parts 
Volatile Oil 
. . 2 „ 
Wax . . . . 
6 „ 
Gum .... 
. . 10 „ 
Starch 
. . 42 „ 
Woody Fibre . 
. . 20 „ 
Loss .... 
. . 4 „ 
100 
More recently, Willigk has discovered in ipecacuanha an acid, which he 
calls Ipecacuanliic Acid. It very much resembles gallic acid in its characters, 
so much so, as to have been mistaken by Pelletier for that acid. It is pro¬ 
bably combined in the root with the emetina, which is the active principle, 
forming with it a salt, soluble to some extent in water, but more so in alcohol. 
It is this compound of ipecacuanhate of emetina to which ipecacuanha 
wine owes its medicinal activity, and which we are therefore interested in 
preserving from alteration or loss. The remaining constituents ot the root 
need not occupy our attention, as they probably play no part in the change 
to which this preparation is subject. 
Secondly, what is the composition of sherry wine ? 
It is pretty much the same as of all other grape w r ines, and in general it 
may be said to consist of bouquet or odorous principle, grape sugar, bitar¬ 
trate of potash, tartaric, citric, malic, acetic, and carbonic acids, earthy 
salts, gum, alcohol, and water. All of these constituents are liable to varia¬ 
tion as to quantity in different samples, according to the climate, species 
of vine, place of growth, and difference of manipulation in the various pro¬ 
cesses of manufacture. The most important points ot difference, however, 
are the proportions of sugar, alcohol, vegetable acids, and acidulous salts 
which the wines contain, and these will therefore engage our attention in 
considering the subject we have in hand. 
Sherry is not the only kind of wine on which I have experimented^but in 
order more fully to illustrate the subject, I have prepared a series of samples 
of ipecacuanha wine, with eight different wines derived from five different 
