February io, 1872.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
G41 
TINCTURE OP CINNAMON,* 
IN CONNECTION WITH MR. HASELDEN’s TAPER READ 
DECEMBER 0, 1871. f 
BY THOMAS GREENISH, F.C.S. 
It will be in tlie recollection of those who were 
present at the last meeting of the Society in Decem¬ 
ber that a paper by our President, “ On the Syrup 
and Resin of Tolu and Tincture of Cinnamon,” was, 
from the lateness of the hour, taken as read. There 
was consequently no discussion, and the paper was 
printed in the Journal of the following week. I had 
a feiy observations to make on one of the prepara¬ 
tions, namely, the tincture of cinnamon, and, with 
the view of raising a discussion on a subject so 
eminently practical, and thereby eliciting the opi¬ 
nion of the members on some points in connection 
with it, I have embodied my remarks in the present 
paper. The sample shown by our President, which 
had undergone decomposition, was that of tincture 
of cinnamon, and is now on the table. I have also 
here a specimen of the compound tincture of cinna¬ 
mon, in which similar changes, as regards the cinna¬ 
mon which it contained, seem to have taken place. 
Whilst engaged in the investigation of this sub- 
ject, and going over the old Journals, a paper “ On 
the Decomposition of Cinnamon Water,” Vol. I. 
page 207, by the late Mr. Jacob Bell, attracted my 
attention. It is there stated, “ The cinnamon water 
having lost its peculiar properties, it was found on 
examination that a quantity of cinnamic acid had 
separated in crystalsand Mr. Redwood observed, 
“ From the investigations of a German chemist, it 
appears that oil of cinnamon, when exposed to the 
air, absorbed oxygen very rapidly, giving rise to the 
formation of cinnamic acid and two resins—resin 
alpha and resin beta.” 
The result of some carefully-conducted experi¬ 
ments by Mr. W. Bastick, which will be found in a 
paper in Yol. VII. page 268, on “ The acetous fer¬ 
mentation of some of the alcoholic preparations of 
the Pharmacopoeia,” seems to prove that in most 
proof-spirit tinctures, if kept for a time in bottles 
more or less full,—in fact, in the condition in which 
they are usually found on the shelf of a dispensing 
establishment,—and at a temperature of from 60° 
to 80° F., there is decomposition of the alcohol, and 
a partial destruction of the vegetable principles 
themselves, the proof-spirit tinctures only being 
liable to this change. Among others which he had 
observed to decompose he mentions the compound 
tincture of cinnamon; and his experiments point to 
one remedy, a stronger alcoholic solution as a men¬ 
struum. 
Taking the same view of the cause and the re- 
medy, and to guard against a similar decomposition 
in the simple or compound tincture, I made each of 
them with (5 parts spirit and 2 parts water, instead 
of 5 and 3, and the result has been that under the 
same conditions neither of the tinctures at the pre¬ 
sent time show any signs of change. 
Consulting the continental Pharmacopoeias with 
reference to this subject, I find that the spiritus vini 
dilutus of the Austrian Pharmacopoeia is stronger 
than our proof spirit; it has a sp. gr. '892; and the 
spiritus vini rectificatus, which is its equivalent in 
* Read at the Evening Meeting of the Pharmaceutical 
Society of Great Britain, February 7, 1872. 
f See ante, p. 467. 
Third Series, No. 85. 
the Prussian Pharmacopoeia, and with which their 
tinctures of cinnamon are made, is about the same as 
the strength of spirit which I have found it desir¬ 
able to use in making these two preparations. 
I now approach a much larger subject, but one, I 
think, quite worthy of consideration,—whether hav¬ 
ing regard to the proximate principles of the several 
substances which constitute the ingredients of a 
tincture, the relative proportions of spirit and water 
may not in some instances be varied with advan¬ 
tage as regards solubilit}^, also with a view to the 
permanence of the resulting preparation. 
On reference to the British Homoeopathic Phar¬ 
macopoeia, a work that I would recommend to the 
careful perusal of every pharmacist, there are some 
very pertinent remarks, which I take the liberty of 
quoting, on the preparation of the tinctures con¬ 
tained in it, and it will be observed that six different 
strengths of spirit are employed. 
“ 1st. Dilute Alcohol. —This is made by mixing 
equal measures of rectified spirit and distilled water. 
The mixture should have a density of ’935, and con¬ 
tains 42 per cent, of absolute alcohol. 
“2nd. Proof Spirit (British Pharmacopoeia).— 
This is made by mixing 5 measures of rectified spirit 
with 3 of distilled water. It should have a density 
of'920, and contains 49 per cent, of absolute alcohol. 
“ 3rd. Spirit of 20 O. P. —This is made by mix¬ 
ing 6 measures of rectified spirit with 2 of distilled 
water. It should have a density of ’888, and con¬ 
tains 03 per cent, of absolute alcohol. 
“4tli. Spirit of 40 O.P. —This is made by mixing 
7 measures of rectified spirit with 1 of distilled 
water. It should have a density of ’865, and con¬ 
tains 73 per cent, of absolute alcohol. 
“ 5th. Rectified Spirit (60 O. P .) has a density of 
•830, and contains 84 per cent, of absolute alcohol. 
“ 6th. Absolute Alcohol having a density of about 
•793 is required for a few of the preparations.” 
Again, under the head of tinctures, it is very pro¬ 
perly stated that “the objects to be attained in these 
preparations are the following:— 
“ 1st. A preparation containing all the soluble in¬ 
gredients of the substance employed. 
“ 2nd. A uniform strength, so that it may be always 
known exactly how much of the dry crude material 
is represented in a given measure of the tincture.” 
And it further states, that “these objects may be 
attained in the following manner: — 
“ 1st. The complete solution of all soluble matter 
can be accomplished by varying the alcoholic 
strength to suit the nature of the ingredients in 
each plant, using a very dilute spirit where the in¬ 
gredients are chiefly soluble in water, and a strong 
spirit where alcohol is the best solvent.” 
Referring to the practice in this Pharmacopoeia 
with regard to tincture of cinnamon, I find that 
rectified spirit is used as a menstruum. 
A paper by Mr. Giles, read before the Bristol 
Pharmaceutical Association, will be found in the 
Journal of January 20tli, in which the author re¬ 
views the Pharmacopceial tinctures generally with 
■ reference to their alcoholic strength, and expresses 
an opinion that the subject is deserving of more at¬ 
tention than it appears to have received. Mr. Giles 
has so ably stated the case, that I need do no more 
than refer to that paper as containing pretty well all 
I have further to say on this part of the subject; and, 
in conclusion, I am of opinion that many of the 
| proof-spirit tinctures of the British Pharmacopoeia 
