ON  A  NEW  MODE  OF  PREPARING  SOME  SYRUPS. 
551 
process  has  thus  been  conducted  with  care,  the  whole  of  the 
virtues  of  two  ounces  of  rhubarb  may  be  readily  obtained  in 
thirteen  fluid  ounces  of  an  aqueous  liquid,  which  by  the  addition 
of  24  ounces  of  sugar  is  converted  into  syrup  of  rhubarb. 
Aromatic  syrup  of  rhubarb  contains  several  spicy  ingredients, 
the  virtues  of  which  are  not  completely  taken  up  by  water  alone  ; 
the  difficulty  in  this  instance  is  to  choose  a  solvent  for  the  aro- 
matics,  in  order  to  avoid  evaporation.  I  have  adopted  the  fol- 
lowing way :  the  rhubarb  and  spices  in  the  quantity  ordered  in 
the  Pharmacopoeia,  are  reduced  to  powder  which  will  pass 
through  a  sieve  of  fifty  meshes  to  the  inch ;  this  is  moistened 
with  three  fluid  ounces  of  alcohol ;  an  equal  bulk  of  sand  is  now 
worked  in,  and  the  whole  packed  into  a  funnel.  Displacement 
is  induced  by  the  addition  of  water ;  the  liquor  passing  first, 
contains  nearly  the  whole  of  the  odorous  matters,  and  the  aque- 
ous liquid  which  passes  subsequently,  produces  a  precipitate  in 
it,  thus  rendering  the  whole  cloudy.  The  percolation  is  con- 
tinued until  3f  pints  of  fluid  have  been  obtained,  in  which  8  lbs. 
(Troy)  of  sugar  are  dissolved  by  means  of  heat.  The  yield  is 
about  seven  pints  of  a  strongly  flavored  and  perfectly  transpa- 
rent syrup. 
This  process  may  be  varied,  but  with  no  advantage  that  I 
could  perceive,  by  keeping  the  first  three  fluid  ounces  of  the  per- 
colated liquid  separate,  incorporating  them  with  the  sugar,  and 
evaporating  the  alcohol  spontaneously  before  the  watery  tincture 
is  added  to  it.  If  the  alcohol  is  not  removed  in  this  way,  it  can 
not  be  presumed  to  evaporate  entirely  by  merely  raising  the 
whole  to  the  boiling  point ;  the  boiling  would  have  to  be  con- 
tinued for  some  time,  whereby  a  loss  of  the  volatile  oils  may  be 
incurred.  But  suppose  the  whole  of  the  alcohol  to  remain  in 
the  syrup,  one  fluid  ounce  of  it  would  contain  scarcely  over 
twelve  minims,  a  quantity  so  insignificant  as  to  be  of  no  ac- 
count. 
Without  the  aid  of  alcohol,  aromatic  syrup  of  rhubarb  may 
be  obtained,  if  care  is  taken  to  have  the  spices  deprived  of  their 
virtues  by  a  saccharine  liquid.  For  thi3  purpose,  the  rhubarb, 
mixed  with  fine  sand  and  moistened  with  water,  is  packed  in  the 
displacer,  and  upon  it  the  aromatics  previously  beaten  with 
eight  ounces  of  sugar  to  powder ;  upon  a  piece  of  muslin  placed 
