S26 
Fluid  gly  cerates. 
j  Am.  Jour.  Phariii. 
\   November,  190S. 
these  in  pharmaceutical  preparations,  usually,  in  combination  with 
alcoholic  liquids.  Its  extensive  use  in  tinctures  and  fluidextracts 
has  been  criticized  as  an  abuse.  It  is  but  an  indifferent  solvent  for 
resins,  fats,  and  fixed  oils  and,  in  fact,  for  most  substances  requiring 
alcohol  as  a  perfect  solvent,  and  consequently  is  of  but  little  use  as 
a  solvent  where  such  constituents  represent  the  activity  of  the  drug 
and  its  use,  even  with  alcohol  in  such  preparations,  is  contraindi- 
cated.  But  in  many  drugs,  these  constituents  are  not  valuable  and 
with  the  associated  inert  extractives  are  a  source  of  annoyance  from 
the  continuous  forming  of  precipitates. 
In  the  writer's  experiments  with  fluidglycerates,  the  endeavor  has 
been  to  confine  these  to  preparations  of  drugs  where  such  alcohol- 
requiring  constituents  do  not  represent  the  value  of  the  drug  and 
when  present  and  not  essential  to  leave  these  undesirable  con- 
stituents in  the  marc.  On  the  other  hand,  glycerin  is  a  good  solvent 
for  many  of  the  sweet,  bitter,  astringent  and  essential  flavoring 
constituents  of  drugs,  and  possesses  a  marked  solvent  action  on 
many  of  the  alkaloids,  glucosides  and  neutral  principles. 
Preliminary  experiments  to  determine  the  amount  of  glycerin 
necessary  to  preserve  glycerol-water  liquid  extracts  of  drugs  showed 
that  if  glycerin  was  present  in  the  finished  preparation  in  a  propor- 
tion of  not  less  than  one-third  of  the  volume,  the  preparations  were 
fairly  stable.  If  only  one-fourth  or  less  was  present,  then  decom- 
position invariably  took  place  sooner  or  later,  but  if  one-half  was 
used  the  preparations  were  permanent  and  in  the  fluidglycerates  as 
experimented  upon  and  described  in  this  paper  it  has  been  aimed  to 
have  approximately  fifty  per  cent,  by  volume  introduced  in  the 
products. 
In  the  paper  referred  to,  a  formula  for  fluidglycerate  of  krameria 
was  published  as  a  type  formula  and  of  a  preparation  that  clinical 
experiments  had  already  demonstrated  to  be  a  useful  form  for  the 
exhibition  of  this  drug,  especially,  in  catarrhal  affections  of  the 
rectum.  Subsequent  extended  practical  use  by  a  number  of  physi- 
cians, has  fully  confirmed  that  it  is  a  satisfactory  preparation  and 
remedy. 
When  presenting  this  paper  before  the  New  Jersey  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  the  writer  announced  that  he  was  continuing  the  study 
of  the  subject  and  intended  to  extend  his  experiments  to  all  drugs 
that  appeared  as  probably  suitable  for  such  extraction. 
