PROPER  MENSTRUUM  POR  PLUID  EXTRACTS. 
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fall  into  oblivion,  I  do  not  know.  Yet  if  so,  it  is  only  what  hap- 
pens every  day  with  other  remedies.  But  if  it  be  not  a  remedy 
for  this  disease,  which  is  pronounced  incurable,  other  experi- 
ments made  on  less  dangerous  maladies  may  prove  it  to  be  pos- 
sessed of  greater  usefulness. 
Chickweed  produces  in  small  doses  (say  one  to  two  drachms, 
in  the  form  of  powder)  profuse  perspiration,  soothes  pain,  &c, 
but  in  large  doses  it  produces  all  the  effects  of  a  narcotic 
poison  upon  the  frame  and  nervous  system. 
ON  THE  PROPER  MENSTRUUM  FOR  FLUID  EXTRACTS. 
By  John  M.  Maisch. 
Many  fluid  extracts  have  been  made  by  manufacturers  and  phar- 
maceutists, for  which  no  formula  has  been  published  ;  at  the  same 
time  there  appears  to  exist  a  general  desire  for  a  considerable  in- 
crease of  the  number  of  the  officinal  preparations  of  this  class. 
The  want  of  formulae  and  of  observations  on  the  mode  of  preparing, 
the  manner  of  keeping  and  the  stability  of  many  which  are  occa- 
sionally used  or  may  be  desirable,  will  have  to  be  supplied  by 
somebody,  as  the  revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  progresses,  while 
a  knowledge  of  the  experience  with  these  liquids  in  the  labora- 
tory and  behind  the  dispensing  counter  would  vastly  aid  the 
labors  of  the  revising  committee.  I  consider  it  the  duty  of 
every  pharmaceutist  who  may  be  able  to  contribute  a  mite  to 
our  knowledge  of  the  preparations  in  question,  to  do  this  at  as 
early  a  date  as  possible,  in  order  to  assist  in  making  the  direc- 
tions in  our  next  standard  as  unobjectionable  as  may  be. 
The  preservation  of  the  pharmaceutical  preparations  is  one  of 
the  most  important  points  to  be  considered.  In  the  Proceedings 
of  the  Amer.  Pharm.  Association  for  1858,  a  paper  by  Mr. 
Thayer  was  published,  treating  on  this  subject,  with  regard  to 
fluid  extracts.  Able  as  the  treatise  is,  still  I  consider  the  points 
arrived  at  fallacious,  because  the  starting  point  is  in  my  opinion 
a  wrong  one.  And  this  was  the  ground  I  took  against  Mr. 
Thayer's  opinions  in  my  paper  published  on  page  113  of  this 
