Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April.  1889. 
Notes  on  Cascara  Sagrada. 
185 
one  being  spirituous  the  other  aqueous.  As  doubts  have  been  expressed 
as  to  the  efficiency  of  water  in  effecting  solution  of  the  principles  of 
cascara,  I  decided  to  try  whether  the  bark  was  thoroughly  exhausted 
in  the  preparation  of  the  official  liquid  extract.  . 
A  weighed  quantity  of  the  bark  was  treated  as  described  in  the 
Pharmacopoeia  until  the  last  liquor  was  free  from  color  and  taste ;  the 
residual  cascara  was  dried,  then  macerated  and  percolated  with  spirit. 
Upon  evaporating  the  percolate  a  considerable  amount  of  extractive 
matter  remained,  which  upon  being  tested  physiologically  was  found 
to  possess  the  characteristic  laxative  properties  of  the  drug. 
With  a  view  of  finding  a  process  for  cornpletely  extracting  the  bark 
a  number  of  formulae  were  tried ;  the  following  has  produced  the  best 
preparation  in  my  hands1 : — 
Cascara  sagrada  in  No.  40  powder  ,   20  ounces. 
Rectified  spirit  j  of  each  ft  sufficiency. 
Distilled  water ) 
Mix  together  equal  quantities  of  the  spirit  and  water.  With  this 
menstruum  moisten  the  bark,  pack  tightly  in  a  percolator,  pour  on 
more  of  the  liquid  and  allow  it  to  macerate  for  forty-eight  hours  ;  then 
proceed  to  percolate,  adding  more  of  the  menstruum  as  necessary,  until 
exhaustion  is  complete ;  reserve  the  first  fifteen  fluid  ounces ;  evaporate 
the  remainder  to  the  consistence  of  soft  extract  and  dissolve  in  the 
reserved  portion  ;  finally  make  up  to  20  fluid  ounces  by  the  further 
addition  of  the  diluted  spirit. 
The  chief  objections  to  the  employment  of  cascara  sagrada  is  its 
unpleasant  and  intense  bitterness.  Two  methods  are  employed  to  get 
over  this  difficulty  : — 
I.  The  addition  of  some  agent  calculated  to  mask  the  bitter  taste  of 
the  liquid  extract. 
In  the  Conference  Formulary  we  have  two  examples  of  this  kind, 
viz.,  syrupus  cascarse  sagradse  (1  part  of  liquid  extract  in  5),  and  elixir 
cascarse  sagradse  (2  parts  liquid  extract  in  5);  the  latter  deposits  largely 
on  keeping. 
A  preparation  which  does  not  precipitate  on  dilution,  and,  in  my 
opinion,  is  less  nauseous  than  the  above,  may  be  made  by  mixing  equal 
proportions  of  the  liquid  extracts  of  cascara  sagrada  and  liquorice,  a 
few  minims  of  spirit  of  chloroform  being  added  to  each  dose. 
III.    Tasteless  Extracts — The  suggestion  that  an  extract  of  cascara 
1  The  National  Formulary  directs  diluted  alcohol  as  the  menstruum. 
