EXTRACTS OF THE BRITISH PHARMACOPOEIA. 
309 
two per cent., at a cost of 3s. per pound; decoction and strained hot thirty- 
five per cent., at a cost of 2s. per pound. 
I have now, I believe, in one sense pretty well exhausted this subject, 
though there may be points which I have passed over; but I trust that, while 
I have endeavoured to show that the Pharmacopoeia process is a good one, 
and that the process of decoction is also good if well carried out, I have 
thrown out some hints which may not be altogether without their value. 
October 31s£, 1864. 
In the discussion which took place after the reading of this paper, allusion 
was made by Mr. Mackay, of Edinburgh, to some extracts that were exhibited 
at the International Exhibition of 1862, by M. Berjot, of Caen, in the French 
department. Mr. Mackay wished to know if any of the members present could 
give any information as to the mode of producing those extracts. Specimens of 
them were deposited in the Economic Museum in Edinburgh, and they had at¬ 
tracted a good deal of attention there, and were thought, in some respects, to be 
very superior to the extracts commonly met with. 
Professor Redwood said the extracts alluded to had not escaped the attention 
of the jury appointed to that department of the Exhibition. They were care¬ 
fully examined in common with other pharmaceutical products, but they were 
not considered deserving of any very special commendation, on account of their 
very unstable nature. They were made by evaporation in vacuo , and being 
reduced to perfect dryness while in the vacuum pan, they had a light spongy 
condition, somewhat similar to that of tannin, as usually prepared. They could 
only be preserved in this state, however, while they were perfectly excluded 
from air containing any moisture. The vesicular condition they were in while 
dry gave them a light colour very different from that which they acquired on 
exposure to the air, when they speedily became soft. 
Mr. D. IIanbury had examined the extracts alluded to, in the Exhibition, 
but he in common with others did not consider them worthy of imitation. It 
would be impossible to keep them for use in dispensing without their becoming 
completely changed from even very slight exposure to the air. 
Several opinions were offered with reference to the extracts prepared as de¬ 
scribed in Mr. Ilaselden’s paper. The extract of calumbo made according to 
the Pharmacopoeia was thought to be inconveniently tough and leathery. That 
made with water had a better consistence. Of the extracts of liquorice, the 
prevailing opinion seemed to be that that made by the Pharmacopoeia process 
was the best. 
Mr. Umney stated, as the result of his experience in making extract of 
liquorice on the large scale, that it was necessary to adopt a somewhat different 
method of operating from that described in the Pharmacopoeia. The plan he 
adopted was to macerate the coarsely powdered root with water in a large barrel 
for twenty-four hours, then to drain off the liquor and press the marc, finishing 
the extract as described in the Pharmacopoeia. If the root was left in contact _ 
with water for more than twenty-four hours, fermentation was very likely to 
setup. With reference to extract of calumbo, lie had obtained a larger pro¬ 
duct than Mr. Ilaselden mentioned by the spirit process, but he had used suffi¬ 
cient spirit to exhaust the root. 
