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BRITISH PHARMACEUTICAL CONFERENCE. 
substitutes which, are commonly employed for the purpose, however great 
their alcoholic strength. 
But not only does the nature of the wine affect the quantity of the deposit, 
it also determines the proportions of its component parts. If wine were a 
mere mixture of spirit and water, even then there would be a deposit from a 
tincture of ipecacuanha made with it, arising from the absorption of oxygen 
before mentioned. I have prepared such a sample of the same proportions 
of root and solvent as the officinal wine, but containing 54 per cent, of 
alcohol, sp. gr. *825,. in other words, proof spirit. It will be seen by this 
sample, that the mere increase of the proportion of alcohol up to this point, 
at any rate, does not suffice to prevent the deposit, wdiich in this case is 
simply ipecacuanhate of emetina. 
But w T ine contains also bitartrate of potash in solution, and this is found to 
be deposited with the ipecacuanhate of emetina. In most wines a portion of 
the grape sugar contained in the grape juice is left unfermented, that it may 
communicate an agreeable sweetness to the beverage. Although, for this 
purpose, the fermentation is nominally stopped when the wine is finished and 
bottled, this process goes on steadily and continuously, though it may be 
slowly, as long as any sugar remains unconsumed. The quantity of alcohol 
in the wine thus gradually increases, and tke bitartrate of potash being inso¬ 
luble in alcohol is gradually deposited; and I venture to assert, that by the 
loss of this ingredient, the wine is to the same extent rendered incapable of 
retaining in solution the active principle of ipecacuanha it previously may 
have contained. I have shown before that alcohol, though existing in large 
proportion in any given tincture of ipecacuanha, is not of itself able to pre¬ 
vent the deposit of emetina, etc. ; and I now beg your attention to another 
tincture of ipecacuanha, prepared with a mixture of rectified spirit and water, 
containing only 20 per cent, of the former, but containing also four grains of 
tartaric acid to the fluid ounce, as another evidence of the power of acids 
even in a wine or tincture of little alcoholic strength, to retain the active 
principle in solution for a long, if not an unlimited period. You will see by 
inspecting the sample that it contains, if any, a very small amount of deposit 
compared with the tincture containing only spirit and water. 
As there may have been in the minds of many pharmaceutists doubts con¬ 
cerning the nature of the deposit in ipecacuanha wine, I trust my experi¬ 
ments may conduce in some measure to produce clearer views on the subject, 
and as w'e know the preparation in question to be an unsatisfactory one, that 
they may tend to its improvement. 
Mr. S. U. Jones expressed his interest in the valuable paper just read. Personally, 
he found that a pale sherry gave him good results. Until sanctioned by the Pharma¬ 
copoeia, of course the addition of tartaric acid would be improper. 
Mr. Brady said, that the author’s opinions as to the necessity of a free acid, were 
confirmed by the favourable opinion in which acetum ipecacuanha was held in many 
parts of the country. The syrup, ipecac., P.E., was also a very eligible preparation. 
Mr. Dymoxd alluded to an oxymel ipecac., which was a satisfactory preparation. 
Mr. Lucas confirmed the statements of the author as to the large amount of deposit 
given by a proof-spirit tincture of the drug. 
Mr. Schacht queried whether it had beeu shown how oxidation affected the question. 
That the withdrawal of bitartrate of potash from solution did so, had been lucidly shown 
by the author. 
Other members took part in the discussion, and a general satisfaction was expressed 
that one of the Birmingham members had thrown so much light upon a subject, that 
had received but little from previous investigators, w r ho had concluded that the deposit 
was inert vegetable matter, as mucilaginous principles, ulmine, etc. 
{End. of the First Day's Sittings.) 
