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THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[April 1,1871. 
TINCTURE OF NUX VOMICA (U.S.). 
BY J. B. MOORE. 
The tough and corneous character of nux vomica, and 
the obstacle this offers to the solution of its active con¬ 
stituents, render it one of the most difficult substances in 
the materia mcdica to exhaust with a limited quantity of 
menstruum. It is, therefore, important that the greatest 
care be exercised in the preparation of the tincture and 
all the pharmaceutical preparations of the drug. 
The U. S. Pharmacopoeia directs fine powder, No. 60, 
to be employed in making the tincture, and gives the 
following directions for its preparation:—“Mix the 
powder with a pint of alcohol, and digest for twenty- 
four hours, in a closo vessel, with a gentle heat; then 
transfer the mixture to a cylindrical percolator, and gra¬ 
dually pour alcohol upon it until two pints of tincture 
are obtained.” 
Having, in common with many of my brethren in the 
profession, had frequent difficulty in thoroughly ex¬ 
hausting the drug and obtaining a satisfactory prepara¬ 
tion when complying with the above directions, I was 
induced about two years ago to institute a series of ex¬ 
periments, with the view of so amending the officinal for¬ 
mula and process, that a more uniform and reliable tinc¬ 
ture might be made; and, after many experiments with 
various modes of manipulation, and with powders of dif¬ 
ferent degrees of fineness, I became convinced that a 
liner powder than is directed in the officinal formula 
was necessary to ensure the perfect exhaustion of the 
drug, and that some change in the process was also re¬ 
quired. As the result of my efforts, I offer the follow¬ 
ing modification of the officinal process, as affording the 
most satisfactory results:—- 
Pulv. Nux Vomica, No. 80, ^viij troy 
Alcohol a sufficient quantity. 
Mix the powder with 1| pint of alcohol, and digest for 
twenty-four hours, in a close vessel, at a temperature of 
120 °, with occasional agitation; then strain through 
muslin with strong expression, and rub the residue 
through a No. 20 sieve; then pack it firmly in a glass 
cylindrical percolator, and gradually pour upon it the 
expressed liquid, and, when it has all been absorbed, 
continue the percolation with alcohol until 2 pints of 
tincture are obtained. 
Instead of digesting the drug with only a pint of 
alcohol, as directed by the Pharmacopoeia, I use a pint 
and a half, as it is desirable to secure the solvent action 
of as much of the menstruum as is possible during the 
digestion. 
I also direct the mixture to be expressed at the com¬ 
pletion of the digestion, as the residue can then be pro¬ 
perly packed for percolation. This is of paramount im¬ 
portance to the success of the operation, and is much 
better than pouring the mixture into the percolator and 
allowing it to settle and adjust itself, as in the officinal 
formula, because in doing so the homogeneous condition 
of the mass is disturbed by the partial separation of the 
finer and coarser particles. 
The residuum should be packed so firmly in the per¬ 
colator that, when percolation commences, the tincture 
will not pass at a faster rate than from five to eight drops 
per minute. 
If the above directions arc carefully complied with, a 
good and reliable preparation will result. When the 
process is completed, the dregs in the percolator will be 
found to be tasteless, or nearly so. 
The almost insuperable difficulties attending the re¬ 
duction of nux vomica to a very fine powder, with the 
facilities afforded by any ordinary retail drug store, for¬ 
bid the idea of any pharmacist attempting to powder the 
drug for himself; consequently, nearly all are compelled 
to rely upon the wholesale market" for their supply. 
Therefore, I think that our wholesale druggists should 
keep constantly on hand nux vomica in very fine powder. 
I presume it is quite a difficult matter to reduce it to so 
fine a state of division, even by the aid of the appliances 
of the best arranged drug-powdering establishments; yet, 
by proper treatment, it can be done. 
At the time I was engaged with my experiments I 
found it impossible to obtain any powdered nux vomica 
in this market that even came up to the requirements off 
the Pharmacopoeia; and to procure the very fine (No. 
80) powder I desired, I was obliged to send to Dr. Squibb, 
in Brooklyn. 
There was but one or two of our wholesale drug houses 
that had any powder finer than from No. 30 to No. 40. 
Now, as pharmacists have to depend almost exclusively 
upon the commercial powder to prepare their tincture- 
from, this would seem to indicate that it is nearly all 
made from powder entirely too coarse, and must neces¬ 
sarily often bo of very deficient strength. To this cause 
may be attributed the frequent failure of physicians in de¬ 
riving the desired therapeutic effects from the adminis¬ 
tration of the tincture. It is not uncommon to hear 
medical men remark that they have lost confidence in 
the virtues of tincture of nux vomica, and many have- 
ceased to employ it in their practice. But I believe that 
if it be carefully and properly prepared, it is as efficient 
and reliable a preparation of the drug as any that is. 
made.— Amer. Journ. Pharm. 
'Will Snake-Poison Kill a Snake ?—Dr. Fayrer, 
in India, has been experimenting to cori-cct the popular- 
error that a snake cannot kill a snake. He took a young 
and very lively cobra, fourteen inches long, and which 
was bitten in the muscular part of the body by a krait 
forty-eight inches long. The krait had not bitten for 
some days before. From a detailed report by Dr. Fayrer, 
it appears that the cobra was bitten at 12.50 p.m. At 
1 p.m. it was very sluggish, at 1.3 p.m. so sluggish that 
it moved with difficulty, could be easily handled, and 
made no effort at resistance. At 1.20 it was apparently 
dying, and its movements were scarcely perceptible, and 
at 1.22 it died, thirty-two minutes after the attack. 
Dr. Fayrer has found that the water-snakes of India are 
deadly poisonous. In the Bay of Bengal they swarm, 
and it is noted as ominous that lately it was proposed to- 
erect a sea-bathing establishment for Calcutta at Bar war, 
under the assurance that there were no sharks. It is re¬ 
marked that sharks need not be noticed when a bather 
may have deadly water-snakes swimming after him.— 
Nature. 
Tuba Roots. —The roots of a plant known in Borneo 
by the name of Tuba or Tooba, are reported to be much 
valued in that country for destroying vermin on plants, 
or animals. They are thrown into water and allowed 
to stand a short time, after which the plants or animals 
are washed with the water. Europeans who have used 
it say that its effects are sure and instant, and that 
while fatal to insect life, it does not in the least degree 
injure the plants or animals to which it is applied. The 
roots are used when fresh, and evidently lose their pro¬ 
perties by drying, as a decoction which had been pre¬ 
pared from some roots received in the dry state has been 
applied to some plants infested with vermin without the 
slightest effect. The roots are also constantly used by 
the natives for poisoning fish in streams and pools*. 
The plant-is said to be leguminous .—The Gardeners 
Chronicle. 
Test for Silver-Plating. —In the January number 
of Polytechnisches Journal von Dingier is a simple process, 
by Professor Bcettger for testing the genuineness of 
silver-plating on metals, which maybe of value to many. 
The metallic surface is carefully cleaned, and a drop of 
a cold saturated solution of bichromate of potash in 
nitric acid is placed upon it, and immediately washed off 
with cold water. If the surface is silver, a blood-red' 
spot of chromate of silver is formed, whereas on German- 
silver or Britannia metal the stain is brown or black.— 
Athenantm . 
