ON  THE  SOLUBILITY  OF  MEDICINAL  PRINCIPLES.  43 
ON  THE  SOLUBILITY  OF  THE  MEDICINAL  PRINCIPLES  OP  ALL 
ORGANIC  MATTER  IN  ALCOHOL. 
By  Wm.  S.  Merrill,  A.  M. 
In  presenting  my  views  on  the  above  subject,  I  feel  that  I  do 
it  somewhat  prematurely ;  I  had  not  intended  to  bring  them  for- 
ward at  this  meeting  of  the  Association,  but  to  wait  till  I  could 
more  fully  confirm  them  by  experiment  and  illustrate  them  by 
samples.  But  learning  that  the  subject  of  Fluid  Extracts  was 
exciting  great  interest  throughout  the  medical  profession,  and 
was  likely  to  be  made  a  prominent  subject  of  enquiry  here ;  and 
as  the  laws  which  I  hold  to  exist,  lie  at  the  foundation  of  all 
correct  formulae  for  making  this  class  of  preparations,  I  have 
concluded,  since  leaving  home,  to  sketch  out  my  views  on  this 
subject  and  present  them  for  your  consideration.  I  am  aware 
that  the  truth  of  my  hypothesis  will  be  questioned,  for  I  have 
yet  named  it  to  no  pharmaceutist  who  at  first  gave  it  his  assent ; 
perhaps  it  will  be  proved  false ;  but  if  true,  all  will  admit  it  to 
be  of  primary  importance  in  the  science  of  pharmacy. 
The  hypothesis  then,  which  I  venture  to  propose,  is  this ;  that 
alcohol,  in  its  solvent  power,  accurately  discriminates  between 
the  medicinal  and  the  nutritive  principles  of  all  vegetable  sub- 
stances, and,  for  the  most  part,  of  all  organic  matter.  That,  in 
their  normal  states,  all  those  proximate  principles  of  vegetation 
which  are  medicinal  or  poisonous,  are  soluble  in  pure  alcohol, 
while  all  those  which  are  nutritive,  or  capable  of  digestion  and  as- 
similation, are  insoluble,  or  at  most  very  sparingly  soluble  in  that 
menstruum  ;  and  conversely,  all  those  parts  or  principles  of 
vegetables  which  are  soluble  in  alcohol,  are  non-nutritious  and 
incapable  of  sustaining  animal  life,  and  when  taken  into  the 
stomach  in  their  isolated  state,  more  or  less  disturb  the  normal 
action  of  the  animal  functions  ;  while  all  those  parts. or  princi- 
ples which  are  insoluble  in  that  fluid,  are  either  assimilative  and 
nutritious,  or  else  in  consequence  of  the  inaction  of  the  gastric 
juices  upon  them,  (as  lignin,  wax,  caoutchouc,  &c.)  are  inert,  or 
act  only  mechanically  on  the  system.  Thus,  starch,  gum,  glu- 
ten, pectin,  vegetable  albumen,  glucose,  sugar,  fixed  oils,  and 
other  analogous  principles,  all  those  elements  which  are  digest!- 
