Du Mez—The Galenical Oleoresins. 919 
to the rule as alcohol is the menstruum directed to be used 
in its preparation. 
These preparations derive their name from the fact that 
the drugs from which they were originally prepared con¬ 
tained appreciable amounts of fatty or volatile oil and resin, 
substances, for which ether and acetone were recognized to 
be good solvents. They do not by any means necessarily cor¬ 
respond to the so-called natural oleoresins, which consist for 
the main part of volatile oil and resin; but, in some cases, 
are products relatively poor in one or both of these constit¬ 
uents. Thus, for example, the oleoresin of capsicum contains 
little or no volatile oil and only a small amount of resin, 
while the oleoresin of parsely is practically free from resin. 
Furthermore, these preparations are not always liquid as is gen¬ 
erally stated. The oleoresin of lupulin, for instance, is of the 
consistence of a soft extract when prepared according to phar- 
macopoeial directions, and tends to become firmer with age 
owing to the transformation of the so-called soft into hard resin. 
The manner in which the oleoresins have been defined in the 
various text books and treatises on pharmacy is brought out by 
the following examples, which are representative of the periods 
corresponding to the different decennial revisions of the United 
States Pharmacopoeia: 
“Oleoresinae — Their peculiarity is that they consist of principles which 
when extracted by means of ether, retain a liquid or semi-liquid state 
upon the evaporation of the menstruum, and at the same time have the 
property of self-preservation, differing in this respect from the fluid ex¬ 
tracts which require the presence of alcohol to prevent decomposition. 
They consist chiefly, as their name implies, of oil, whether fixed or volatile, 
holding resin and sometimes other active matter in solution.” U. S. Disp. 
(1870), p. 1315. 
“Oleoresinae, Oleoresins — Mixtures of volatile oils with resins prepared 
by exhausting certain drugs containing both together, the menstruum be¬ 
ing usually ether which extracts both. The menstruum or solvent is evap¬ 
orated off, and the usually semi-liquid extract which remains constitutes 
the oleo-resin.’’ Oldberg and Wall, Comp, to the TJ. S. P. (1884), p. 721. 
“The oleoresins are official liquid preparations, consisting principally 
of natural oils and resins extracted from vegetable substances by per¬ 
colation with ethylic ether. The oleoresins were formerly classed with 
the fluid extracts, but they differ essentially from the latter: 
1. They do not bear any uniform relation to the drug as fluid ex¬ 
tracts do, of gramme to cubic centimeter,—the yield of oleoresin obtained 
