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ON  FLUID  EXTRACT   OF  GENTIAN. 
them ;  therefore  we  perceive  that  quinine  passes  out  of  the  sys- 
tem without  experiencing  any  elementary  change. 
One  subject  is  worthy  of  remark;  the  patient  was  taking  forty 
grains  of  the  disulphate  of  quinine  (and  quinidine) ;  there  were 
found  L4  grain  mixed  of  alkaloids,  which  would  be  equivalent  to 
1.884  grain  of  the  disulphate  of  commerce  ;  and  if  the  patient 
voided  three  pints  of  urine  in  twenty  four  hours,  we  should  only 
account  for  11.304  grains  of  the  remedy  used,  leaving  a  deficien- 
cy of  thirty  grains  ;  three  fourths  of  the  substance  being  yet  un- 
accounted for,  which  has  either  been  assimilated  in  the  body,  or 
has  been  destroyed  in  its  transit  through  the  vascular  system. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  undertake  a  series  of  quantitative  an- 
alyses in  the  healthy  subject  to  determine  these  points  : — 
1st.  Whether  the  whole  of  the  quinine  ingested  disappears  by 
the  kidneys. 
2ndly.  If  not,  whether  it  passes  out  by  other  excretory  organs, 
and  which. 
3rdly.  To  discover  at  what  period  after  ingestion  all  evidence 
of  its  elimination  from  the  kidneys  ceases. 
These  questions  having  been  answered,  in  health,  they  must  be 
repeated  when  quinine  has  been  used  remedially,  and  by  so 
doing  we  shall  perhaps  be  in  a  position  to  say  what  the  medical 
equivalent  of  quinine  may  be  in  a  given  disease." 
ON  FLUID  EXTRACT  OF  GENTIAN,  AND  SOME  REMARKS  ON 
OTHER  TONIC  FLUID  EXTRACTS.  ^ 
Br  William  Procter,  Jr. 
Gentian  is  largely  prescribed  by  physicians  when  a  simple  to- 
nic is  indicated,  and  generally  in  the  forms  of  solid  extract, 
tincture,  or  infusion.  There  are  numerous  cases  requiring  the 
prolonged  use  of  this  tonic,  and  as  the  form  of  infusion  is  most 
frequently  preferred,  the  necessity  of  preparing  it  at  short  inter- 
vals is  requisite  by  reason  of  its  decomposible  nature.  For  a 
like  reason  the  IT.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  infusion  has  been  made  a 
swi-tincture,  but  this  is  so  dilute  as  to  be  too  bulky  for  the  tra- 
veller, and  as  requiring  a  long  time  to  make  when  required  in 
small  quantities  from  time  to  time.    In  view  of  the  advantages 
