SYRUP  OF  IPECACUANHA. 
145 
and  one  part  of  water,  using  only  about  one  half  the  quantity 
of  menstruum  to  effect  the  exhaustion,  as  that  prescribed  by  the 
formula.  The  liquid  was  then  heated  to  about  150°  or  160° 
Fahr.  by  means  of  a  water-bath,  and  when  cold,  filtered  ;  the 
residue  on  the  filter  being  well  washed  with  the  same  menstruum, 
the  resulting  solution  was  reduced  to  about  one-third  of  the 
original  quantity  by  means  of  a  water-bath  maintained  at  a 
temperature  of  about  150°  Fahr.  The  concentrated  liquid  thus 
obtained,  containing  a  portion  of  alcohol  was  mixed  in  due  pro- 
portion with  simple  syrup. 
The  preparation  as  thus  made  was  an  efficient  one,  and  kept 
well  during  warm  weather. 
The  large  quantity  of  inert  matter  taken  up  by  diluted  alco- 
hol, from  Ipecacuanha,  and  afterwards  precipitated  from  the 
solution  on  standing,  which  is  greatly  increased  in  bulk  by  heating 
the  liquid,  together  with  the  circumstance  of  it  containing  some 
alcohol,  continued  to  be  an  obstacle  to  the  full  adoption  of  the 
formula  even  when  thus  modified.  This  precipitated  matter  not 
only  impeded  filtration  but  rendered  its  complete  washing  very 
inconvenient,  while  at  the  same  time  the  clear  liquid  retained 
principles  favorable  to  fermentation. 
These  circumstances  induced  the  writer  to  seek  a  menstruum 
which  would  extract  the  active  portions  of  the  root  only. 
Among  the  constituents  of  Ipecacuanha  may  be  named  Emetia, 
its  active  principle ;  fatty  matter,  wax,  gum,  starch,  &c.  Eme- 
tia is  procured  by  treating  an  alcoholic  extract  of  the  root  with 
water,  decomposing  the  aqueous  solution  with  magnesia,  &c.  It 
was  evident  therefore  to  the  writer's  mind,  that  alcohol  was  the 
proper  solvent  to  use  in  the  preparation  of  the  syrup. 
A  syrup  prepared  by  first  treating  the  root  with  alcohol,  the 
writer  afterward  discovered  was  proposed  in  a  formula  published 
by  Jos.  Laidley  in  the  26th  vol.  of  the  American  Journal  of 
Pharmacy,  page  103 ;  this  process  requires  too  large  a  propor- 
tion of  menstruum,  too  much  evaporation  and  consequently  a  too 
long  application  of  heat,  resulting  in  a  turbid  syrup  which  re- 
quires to  be  clarified  by  the  addition  of  the  white  of  egg  and 
boiled,  rendering  the  process  too  complex  and  otherwise  objec- 
tionable. 
10 
