ON  THE  PRESERVATION  OF  FLUID  EXTRACTS.  123 
often  made  with  an  additional  proportion  of  wax,  spermaceti  or 
suet,  if  intended  for  use  during  the  summer  season  ;  while  in 
the  South,  pharmaceutists  are  compelled  to  employ  the  whole 
year  round  a  harder  preparation  as  the  basis  of  most  ointments 
and  some  cerates,  than  is  commonly  needed  in  the  North  during 
the  corresponding  season  ;  and  as  yet  I  have  heard  of  nobody 
who  would  be  willing  to  find  fault  with  such  a  procedure,  even 
though  the  formula  laid  down  in  our  national  Pharmacopoeia 
should  not  be  strictly  followed.  Substances  merely  employed  as 
a  menstruum  without  adding  to  the  medicinal  qualities  of  the  pre- 
paration, may  be  varied  in  proportion,  so  as  to  impart  to  the 
latter  that  finish  which  is  in  accordance  with  the  artistical  de- 
mands of  our  profession,  I  have  found  that  it  matters  little  to 
the  physician  whether  the  base  of  some  ointments  be  simple 
cerate,  as  is  often  necessary  to  employ  in  the  South,  or  simple 
ointment,  which  in  the  North  may  be  the  proper  menstruum  for 
the  same  preparation  ;  all  that  he  requires,  is  the  requisite  soft- 
ness or  solidity  without  the  addition  of  some  substance  impart- 
ing additional  or  injurious  properties.  The  same  may  be  said 
of  fluid  extracts.  If  those  which  keep  well  in  the  North  with 
12  ounces  of  sugar  in  the  pint,  have  a  tendency  to  ferment  in 
the  South,  no  physician  could  reasonably  object  to  the  addition 
of  another  ounce  or  two  for  the  same  measure.  If  of  the  proper 
density,  and  without  unnecessary  exposure  to  the  intense  heat 
and  light  of  the  sun,  I  am  confident  they  may  be  made  to  keep 
by  means  of  sugar  as  well  in  the  South  as  in  the  North,  while  to 
those  requiring  an  addition  of  alcohol  for  the  complete  solution 
of  some  ingredients,  no  further  complement  of  the  same  will  be 
needed,  so  that  the  medicinal  qualities  of  the  fluid  extract  can 
be  kept  unaltered  in  every  respect.  But  to  succeed  in  this,  I 
hold  that  our  pharmaceutical  brethren  in  the  South  must  not  rely 
on  experiments  made  with  fluid  extracts  prepared  in  the  North, 
but  make  them  for  their  own  use,  and  I  have  no  doubt  as  a 
compensation  for  the  required  trouble  they  will  derive  high 
pleasure  from  the  study  of  the  peculiarity  of  the  various  pro- 
cesses for  the  accomplishment  of  success. 
Before  conclusion  I  have  to  make  a  remark  with  regard  to 
a  few  fluid  preparations,  which  under  peculiar  circumstances  are 
given  to  moulding.    In  full  bottles  this  will  be  rarely  the  case, 
