A  m.  Jour,  Pharm.  \ 
March,  1889.  J 
American  Tinctura  Quittajce. 
139 
In  view  of  the  criticism  on  tinctura  quillaia?,  B.P.C.,  communicated 
to  an  Evening  Meeting  of  the  Society  last  year  by  Mr.  Boa,  and  from 
my  own  experience  with  the  drug,  it  seemed  to  me  that  the  above 
formula  was  objectionable  and  unscientific,  on  account  of  the  liability 
of  saponin  to  split  up  into  sapogenin  and  glucose  under  the  influence 
of  heat.  It  also  appeared  to  me  that  the  method  of  pouring  water 
over  the  marc  on  a  strainer  was  somewhat  rough  and  not  calculated  to 
ensure  complete  exhaustion.  I  have  found,  moreover,  that  quillaia 
can  be  completely  exhausted  by  maceration  and  percolation  with  cold 
water,  and  it  occurred  to  me  that  this  might  be  substituted  with  advan- 
tage for  the  boiling  and  straining  ordered  in  the  first  stage  of  the 
American  process. 
A  sufficient  quantity  of  quillaia  bark  (free  from  outer  brown  layer) 
was  reduced  to  fine  chips  and  mixed.  From  this  two  tinctures  were 
made,  as  follows ; — 
A.  — The  quillaia,  in  fine  chips,  was'  packed  in  a  percolator,  macera- 
ted for  twenty  hours  with  one-third  of  the  water,  and  percolated  with 
the  remainder  of  the  water.  The  percolate  was  a  pale  golden  yellow 
liquid.  This  was  mixed  with  the  alcohol,  when  it  became  slightly 
opalescent.  After  standing  twelve  hours  a  flocculent  precipitate  had 
settled  down,  leaving  a  transparent  pale  yellow  liquid  with  a  few  flakes 
floating  through  it.  This  passed  rapidly  through  the  filter  and  was 
made  up  to  the  requisite  measure  with  water. 
B.  — This  tincture  was  made  by  the  American  process.  The  bark 
absorbs  most  of  the  water  and  there  is  apparently  not  much  to  boil 
with.  It  also  froths  up  during  the  boiling  and  the  operation  must  be 
conducted  in  a  capacious  vessel.  The  strained  liquid,  unlike  the  cold 
percolate  of  the  previous  process,  was  of  a  brownish-yellow  color  and 
very  cloudy  or  opalescent.  This  cloudiness  is  due,  I  think,  to  incip- 
ient decomposition  and  separation  of  insoluble  sapogenin.  The  strained 
liquid  was  mixed  with  alcohol,  and  after  standing  twelve  hours  a  pre- 
cipitate had  settled  out,  but  the  supernatant  liquid  was  not  transparent 
but  only  translucent.  The  fine  floating  precipitate  causing  this  slight 
opacity  appeared  to  clog  the  filter,  and  consequently  the  filtration  of 
the  tincture  was  extremely  slow  and  tedious.  The  marc  from  each 
tincture  was  percolated  with  a  further  quantity  of  water  and  the  per- 
colate reserved.  For  preparing  the  tinctures  and  for  the  prac- 
tical notes  thereon  I  am  indebted  to  my  friend,  Mr.  C.  A.  Mac- 
pherson. 
