Du Mez—The Galenical Oleoresins. 
933 
ficial recognition. They are the so-called Eclectic oleoresins 
and are in general directed to be prepared in the following man¬ 
ner : 
Extract the drug by percolation with alcohol or ether and precipitate the 
oil and resin by pouring the alcoholic or ethereal tincture into water. Lastly, 
separate the product from the water by filtration. 
Among the preparations which have been made in this way 
are the following: oleoresin of iris (iridin), oleoresin of 
xanthoxylum, oleoresin of cardamon (oil of cardamon), oleo¬ 
resin of ergot, (oil of ergot) and oleoresin of parsley, 1 ) (oil of 
parsley). 
In this connection, it should be pointed out that the fore¬ 
going are liquid preparations and do not constitute the so-called 
resinoids, which are solids, although prepared in a similar way. 
Apparatus Employed. 
Under the two preceding headlines, the preparation of the 
oleoresins has been discussed from the standpoint of the solvent 
employed in extracting the drug, and with respect to the method 
of procedure. There, is however, still another factor of inter¬ 
est which deserves consideration in this connection, namely: 
the form of apparatus made use of. 
It will be recalled that the first of this class of preparations 
to make its appearance, the oleoresin of aspidium, as originally 
prepared, required the use of nothing but a macerating jar, 
a cloth strainer and some sort of container, in which the colated 
liquid could be collected and exposed to the air to permit the 
evaporation of the solvent. Likewise, these were the utensils 
generally employed in the experimental stages of the prepara¬ 
tion of the other members of this class which became known at 
an early date. As soon, however, as the oleoresins became 
recognized as regular pharmaceutical commodities, the method 
of preparation as outlined above was found to be impractical 
owing to the complete loss of the solvent by evaporation. In 
adapting the same to commercial use, steps were, therefore, 
taken to recover as much of the latter as possible. For this 
purpose, some form of distilling apparatus was employed, pre- 
1 This preparation should not be confused with the oleoresin of parsley 
as official in the present edition of the United States Pharmacopoeia. 
