ON EXTRACTS OP SPIGELIA. 
19 
directions which accompany these essences, indicate that 
one part to seven is requisite to form a portion of the ordi- 
nary strength of a decoction. 
The difference between our climate and theirs may ac- 
count for the necessity of our using a greater quantity of 
saccharine matter for the preservation of the fluid extract. 
Every improvement which can be made in the mode of 
administering remedies, by diminishing the dose, and ren- 
dering that palatable which was before nauseous and dis- 
agreeable, is some contribution to the general stock of know- 
ledge. The fluid extracts may unquestionably be valuable 
remedial agents, when properly prepared ; and if some of 
those who first introduced them to notice, had not chosen 
to conceal their ingredients under the comprehensive title 
of compounds, as well as their mode of preparation, the 
charge of empiricism and quackery would no doubt have 
been spared, and the preparations would have claimed the 
confidence of physicians ; as is the case with the fluid ex- 
tracts of Sarsaparilla, Senna, &c, since the publication of 
formulas. It is not unusual for tne apothecary to find him- 
self constrained either to vend remedies thus introduced, 
involved in mystery as to their composition, or to institute 
experiments, and, by the application of correct pharmaceu- 
tical principles, to endeavor to obtain a remedy which shall 
be entitled to the confidence of the physician. 
The Spigelia Marilandica has long been ranked as one 
of the best vermifuges introduced. The worm tea of the 
shops — notwithstanding the quantity necessary to be taken 
renders it objectionable — enjoys still a confidence which 
the numerous substitutes have not been able to de- 
stroy. 
The Compound Fluid Extract of Spigelia supplies this 
defect, and affords at once an active and safe remedy, com- 
bined with uniformity of strength and pleasantness of 
taste. 
