150  ON  THE  SO-CALLED  OIL  OF  STILLINGIA. 
On  comparison  I  found  the  oil  thus  prepared  much  superior  to 
any  I  had  purchased,  and  my  supplies  have  been  obtained  from 
one  of  the  most  reliable  houses  in  Cincinnati,  where,  according 
to  Dr.  King,  the  very  best  articles  of  this  class  are  to  be  had. 
My  preparation  had  the  odor,  taste  and  peculiar  acridity  of  the 
root  in  a  very  marked  degree;  a  very  small  quantity  being  suffi- 
cient to  leave  a  burning  impression  on  the  palate  for  hours  after 
tasting  it ;  whereas  the  Cincinnati  oil,  which  is  supposed  to  be 
made  from  the  fresh  root,  is  in  all  these  respects  very  inferior. 
I  regret  I  was  unable  to  procure  any  of  the  recent  root,  as  I 
should  like  to  have  thoroughly  tested  the  point  as  to  the  relative 
quantity  as  well  as  quality  obtainable  from  it  as  compared  with 
the  dry  root. 
Striving  to  arrive  at  some  conclusion  as  to  the  comparative 
merit  of  the  preparation  I  had  been  buying,  I  took  two  fluid- 
drachms  and  exposed  it  in  a  shallow  pan  to  the  action  of  the  air 
for  six  hours.  At  the  end  of  that  time  I  was  surprised  to  find 
that  it  had  lost  more  than  five-sixths  of  its  bulk  by  spontaneous 
evaporation,  the  product  having  the  consistence  of  a  soft,  solid 
extract  and  weighing  nineteen  grains.  As  sent  into  the  market 
this  oil  has  a  smell  of  ether,  intended,  I  suppose,  to  meet  the 
prejudices  of  the  profession  who  favor  the  ethereal  over  the  al- 
coholic preparation.  I  observed  that  the  ethereal  odor  disap- 
peared in  a  short  time  upon  exposure  to  the  air,  and  that  the 
nineteen  grains  of  resulting  extract  has  but  little  taste  or  acridity. 
The  following  formula  would  be  about  correct  for  the  production 
of  this  precious  article :  Take  of  solid  alcoholic  extract  of 
stillingia  (quality  a  matter  of  little  consequence)  76  grains  ;  al- 
cohol 6  or  7  drachms ;  ether  sufficient  to  make  one  ounce.  For 
this  compound  you  are  charged  from  80  cents  to  $1.00  per  oz. 
I  fear  that  there  is  more  mixing  and  adulteration  carried  on 
in  the  manufacture  of  these  eclectic  remedies  than  in  any  other 
department  of  pharmaceutical  labor,  for  I  have  rarely,  if  ever, 
made  a  preparation  according  to  any  of  the  published  formulas 
which  did  not  prove  very  much  superior  in  quality  to  any  similar 
article  I  could  buy  from  the  dealers. 
From  the  material  I  have  had  to  work  on  I  can  come  to  no 
conclusion  as  to  the  relative  value  of  the  oil  of  stillingia  made 
