102 
Correspondence. 
(  km.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    February,  1897. 
I  have  been  more  profuse  than  I  intended ;  but  I  do  not  regret  it 
now,  since  it  gave  me  a  chance  to  discuss  a  subject  which  has  often 
been  brought  to  my  notice.  Very  truly  yours, 
Charles  Rice. 
Cincinnati,  O.,  January  9,  1897. 
My  Dear  Mr.  Kebler  : — Permit  me  to  strongly  urge  you  not  to 
commit  yourself  without  reserve  to  the  tincture-from-fluid-extract 
method.  In  my  opinion  there  is  more  than  one  side  to  the  subject. 
In  the  case  of  preparations  in  which  the  therapeutical  constituent  or 
constituents  of  the  drug  are  firmly  established  and  known,  and  in 
which  no  question  exists  concerning  the  exact  value  of  the  fluid 
extract,  there  seems  to  me  to  be  no  question  but  that  the  tincture 
may  be  made  by  diluting  the  fluid  extract ;  this,  of  course,  being  in 
cases  where  the  menstruum  will  not  be  considered  at  all  as  a  thera- 
peutical part  of  the  product. 
In  such  cases  as  nux  vomica,  where  the  therapeutical  constituents 
are  permanent,  I  will  go  further,  and  say  that,  owing  to  the  difficulty 
of  extraction,  in  my  opinion,  unless  the  tincture  is  assayed  in  order 
to  establish  its  value,  the  method  of  preparation  from  an  unexcep- 
tional fluid  extract  (standardized)  is  to  be  preferred  to  blind  extrac- 
tions from  a  standardized  drug. 
In  some  cases,  however,  as,  for  example,  ipecac,  I  question  if  it 
has  been  demonstrated  that  a  standardized  fluid  extract  will  retain 
its  therapeutical  value  as  fully  as  will  the  drug.  Indeed,  I  am  of 
the  opinion  that  the  advantage  is  decidedly  with  the  drug.  Hence, 
in  such  cases  as  this,  which  might  be  illustrated  more  markedly, 
perhaps,  with  other  drugs,  the  element  of  time  may  play  an  import- 
ant part  in  the  subject 
On  the  other  hand,  with  drugs  that  deteriorate  more  rapidly  than 
a  bottled  preparation  made  promptly  from  the  drug  when  in  its 
best  condition,  the  preference  must,  in  my  opinion,  rest  with  the 
fluid  extract.  Among  these  may  be  cited  those  substances  con- 
taining volatile  bodies  that  escape  by  age  ;  as,  for  example,  penny- 
royal, peppermint,  etc.  (of  course,  the  fluid  must  carry  full  amount 
of  tannates,  etc.),  and  included  in  this  class  must  be  such  substances 
as  disintegrate  on  exposure  in  drug  form,  as  exemplified  in  Pulsa- 
tilla, arum,  etc. 
Passing  now  to  the  great  class  of  drugs  in  which  nothing  has  been 
