Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
January,  1910.  J 
Maceration  and  Percolation. 
4i 
for  fluidextracts  and  tinctures  are  given.  The  greatest  victory, 
however,  which  percolation  has  gained  is  its  recognition  by  the 
Brussels  International  Conference  for  the  Unification  of  Pharma- 
copceial  Formulae  for  Potent  Medicaments,  a  copy  of  which  can  be 
found  in  that  excellent  "  Digest  of  Comments  on  U.S. P.",  Bulletin 
No.  49,  Hygienic  Laboratory,  by  Murray  Gait  Motter  and  Martin  I. 
Wilbert,  pp.  64-68.  Article  2,  b,  of  the  Protocol  states :  "  Tinctures 
of  potent  drugs  shall  be  prepared  of  the  strength  of  10  per  cent, 
and  by  percolation/'  September  20,  1902,  the  day  on  which  this 
agreement  was  signed,  will  be  a  memorable  one  in  the  annals  of 
pharmacy — it  marks  the  advent  of  a  new  era,  the  attainment  of 
attempts  covering  nearly  fifty  years  to  unify  the  formulae  for  potent 
medicaments  throughout  the  world.  It  might  be  of  interest  to 
learn  that  when  this  Protocol  was  signed  again  by  the  duly  author- 
ized representatives  of  the  various  governments  on  November  29, 
1906,  at  the  Belgian  ministry  for  foreign  affairs,  the  Swedish  gov- 
ernment formulated  the  following  reservation :  "  As  the  prepara- 
tion of  tinctures  of  drugs  by  percolation  involves  an  increase  in  the 
price  of  these  products,  this  method  seems  not  altogether  suitable 
for  employment  in  a  general  manner  in  Sweden." 
In  connection  with  this  subject  it  might  be  of  interest  to  learn 
that  the  new  Austrian  and  Swiss  Pharmacopoeias  order  tincture  of 
opium  to  be  prepared  by  maceration  instead  of  percolation,  the  latter 
authority  calling  attention  to  this  in  a  footnote.  The  new  French 
Codex,  by  the  way,  orders  this  tincture  to  be  prepared  by  dissolving 
5  Gm.  of  extract  of  opium  in  95  Gm.  of  70  per  cent,  alcohol.  Our 
U.S. P.  VIII  seems  to  have  solved  this  problem  in  an  excellent 
manner,  by  first  extracting  the  opium  with  boiling  water,  then  macer- 
ating in  diluted  alcohol,  and  lastly  percolating. 
In  summing  up  I  want  to  say  that  the  disadvantages  of  macera- 
tion, i.e.,  the  shaking,  expressing,  and  filtering,  the  retention 
of  strong  menstruum  in  the  marc,  and  the  indefinite  quantity  and 
strength  of  the  finished  product,  are  the  principal  advantages  of  per- 
colation. The  advantages  of  maceration  are  very  little  indeed.  The 
uniform  fineness  of  the  ground  drug  used  in  percolation  can  be 
easily  regulated  by  the  sieve.  The  necessary  skill  and  care  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  percolation  will  certainly  be  acquired  by  the  col- 
lege teaching  and  principally  by  the  practical  experience,  and  I  beg  to 
lemind  you  that  the  clerk  who  cannot  conduct  percolation  properly 
ought  not  to  be  employed.    As  to  the  increased  loss  of  alcoholic 
