April 19, 1873.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
821 
THE EMBRYO APPENDIX. 
BY CHARLES SYMES, PH.D. 
Tlie report of the discussion under this head at 
the pharmaceutical meeting forms an interesting 
portion of this Journal for April 5th. Professor 
Redwood appears to adhere as tenaciously as Paul 
himself to the good old maxim, “ Prove all things, 
hold fast that which is goodand I quite agree 
with him that it is time tinct. aurantii recentis 
should he put on trial. It is of much older date 
than Mr. Martindale supposes. I have prepared it 
in quantities of two or three gallons at a time for a 
period of twelve years, and during the first half of 
that time made various experiments as to the best 
proportions of peel, spirit, and water calculated to 
produce a good tincture. For the last five or six 
years I have uniformly adhered to the formula given 
a few months since in this Journal with very satis¬ 
factory results, but using a tincture containing a 
larger proportion of spirit for preparing tinct. quirioe 
comp. Seeing it desirable, however, to have one 
uniform tincture for all purposes, I have recently 
prepared one gallon from the following formula:— 
Thin fresh peel of Bitter Oranges . . . 5 oz. 
Distilled Water.3 oz. 
Rectified Spirit.17 oz. 
Macerate the peel in the water with occasional agita¬ 
tion for forty-eight hours, then add the spirit, and 
continue the maceration and occasional agitation for 
a week. This makes an exoellent tincture, and I 
suggest it as a suitable one for the Appendix. The 
rationale of the process is this: rectified spirit is the 
best solvent of the volatile oil, but it tends to harden 
the texture of the peel, and thus to seal up from its 
action that oil in the containing vesicles. 
Water has just the opposite effect; it tends to 
soften and break up the organization of the peel, so 
that the previous maceration with it, and afterwards 
with the addition of the spirit, enables the operator 
to produce in nine days a tincture which could not 
be so well prepared with rectified spirit alone in a 
month. 
I cannot imagine that any complication would 
arise from the introduction of a second tincture : 
that prepared from the fresh peel is not quite so 
dark as from the dry,—the chief difference is in 
point of flavour. 
I have used it in dispensing for the above-men¬ 
tioned period, and my experience has been that no 
one has complained of any difference as regards colour; 
but occasionally a customer has remarked that “ a 
mixture possessed a much finer flavour of orange 
than when previously dispensed elsewhere.” A simple 
explanation of the difference has always been satis¬ 
factory, has left the reputation of the previous dis¬ 
penser unscathed, and has not diminished my own. 
Then comes the question of supply. Bitter Seville 
oranges are abundant in the markets from January 
till tlie end of April or beginning of May ; and a che¬ 
mist can very nearly estimate his consumption of 
the tincture during the season in which they cannot 
well be procured ; he has only to act accordingly. 
Should his supply run short, I have no doubt but 
his wholesale friends would be glad to help him out 
of the difficulty. 
Tincture of lemon peel is best prepared in the 
manner I have suggested to adopt for tincture of 
orange peel; but of course at the present time no 
Third Series, No. 147. 
material alteration in the B. P. existing forinuke 
can be made. 
I think there would be an advantage in introducing 
into the proposed Appendix, a new syrup of lemons— 
“a syrup of lemon peel,” made by adding 1 part 
tincture to 7 simple syrup—to correspond with the 
syrup of orange peel. Syrup of lemons is often pre¬ 
scribed as a flavouring agent in alkaline mixtures, 
where it is evidently not desired to exercise any neu¬ 
tralizing effect; the proposed syrup could be de¬ 
signated syr. cort. limonis; and if on the publication 
of a new edition of the Pharmacopceia it was found 
desirable to retain the acid syrup, it would be best 
prepared by adding 20 grains of citric acid to each 
fluid ounce of the above. 
Extractum belladonna alcoholicum , prepared by 
treating the inspissated juice with alcohol, is a the¬ 
rapeutic agent by no means new, but one which 
should find its way into the Appendix. The only 
Pharmacopceia preparation (according to that autho¬ 
rity), into which the present extract enters, is em- 
plastrum belladonnse, in the formula for which in¬ 
structions are given for more or less imperfectly 
exhausting the extract with spirit. 
If, however, we turn to unguentum belladonna) we 
find the extract there in the proportion of 80 grains 
to one ounce of lard—“a most unnatural admixture,” 
the instructions for preparing which should be— 
“ rub with untiring perseverance, and do not scrutinize 
with microscopic eye when finished.” 
With one fourth the quantity of alcoholic extract 
we can prepare an ointment with which the B.P. 
preparation cannot compare either in elegance or 
efficiency. 
The same remark applies to the preparation of 
pessaries, suppositories, and bougies of belladonna 
with cacao-butter or other fatty substances. The 
retention of the present extract would be convenient, 
perhaps, for dispensing in the form of pills, but for 
mixtures, the- succus belladonnae is well calculated 
to replace it. 
A SOLUTION OF CHLORIDE OF IRON. 
BY EDWARD BUTLER. 
If a quantity of Liquor Ferri Alkalini, P.L. 1824, 
be kept until "it has deposited a part of its iron as 
hydrated peroxide, this deposit, if filtered off, washed 
frequently, and added while moist to a weak solution 
of hydrochloric acid, about f/ji strong acid to fjxv of 
water, and the solution filtered, presents the follow¬ 
ing peculiarities:— * . 
It is a deep garnet red colour instead of yellow. 
It has scarcely any taste, either acid or ferrous, but 
is very astringent. 
This preparation seems to answer to the article 
mentioned by Mr. Squire, in his last edition of the 
Companion to the Pharmacopoeia, as liq. ferri clilor- 
oxidi. 
THE BOTANICAL ORIGIN AND COUNTRY 
OF MYRRH.* 
BY D. HANBURY, F.R.S. 
The remarks relative to myrrh in the ‘ Admiralty 
Manual of Scientific Inquiry, 1859 and 1871,’t having 
* Reprinted from Ocean Highways for April, 1873, the 
loan of the woodcuts being kindly permitted. 
t Vide Pharm. Journ., I. (1800), 217; II. (1871), 205. 
