120 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\    February,  1897. 
but  this  was  also  true  of  tinctures  freshly  prepared  from  the  drug.  If  it  was 
inert  in  one  case,  it  remained  to  be  demonstrated  that  it  was  not  in  the  other. 
The  chairman,  Mr.  Joseph  W.  England,  was  opposed  to  the  manufacture  of 
other  galenicals  from  fluid  extracts,  and  referred  to  a  paper  prepared  by  him 
and  published  in  the  September,  1893,  number  of  this  Journal,  upon  the 
question  :  "  Is  it  possible  to  produce  fluid  extracts  of  such  strength  that  they 
can  be  diluted  with  proper  menstrua  to  standard  tinctures?"  Much  of  the 
argument  then  presented  was  brought  forward  by  the  speaker  in  support  of 
his  views  on  the  subject  proposed  for  discussion. 
One  of  the  statements  which  he  emphasized  was  that  different  classes  of 
proximate  principles  were  yielded  to  menstrua  of  varying  strength,  and  hence 
official  tinctures  could  not  be  made  from  the  respective  fluid  extracts,  inasmuch 
as  the  menstrua  for  these  two  classes  of  preparations  varied  greatly  in  their 
proportions  of  alcohol  and  water  as  applied  to  different  drugs,  and  in  evidence 
of  this,  the  menstrua  for  a  number  of  these  preparations  were  given  in  tabular 
form. 
The  claim  was  also  made  that  an  officially  made  tincture  was  relatively 
stronger  than  the  corresponding  fluid  extract,  the  relatively  larger  dose  of  the 
fluid  extract  confirming  this  opinion. 
The  speaker  stated  that  many  manufacturers  did  not  make  their  fluid  extracts 
according  to  Pharmacopoeial  directions,  but  according  to  methods  which  their 
own  experience  suggested.  Another  point  was  the  variation  in  menstrua  which 
they  used,  which  neither  agreed  with  the  Pharmacopoeial  requirements  nor 
among  themselves. 
He,  therefore,  concluded  that  it  was  impossible  to  make  tinctures  uniform  in 
strength  from  fluid  extracts,  whether  these  were  assayed  or  not,  inasmuch  as 
the  assay  processes  used  likewise  varied,  as  well  as  the  standards  assumed  for 
many  drugs. 
Professor  Remington  said  that  the  main  question  was  in  reference  to  the 
objects  had  in  view  concerning  these  two  classes  of  preparations  ;  that  fluid 
extracts  were  intended  to  be  permanent  preparations  and  were  made  strongly 
alcoholic,  while  on  the  other  hand,  the  menstrua  for  tinctures  were  made  as 
aqueous  as  possible,  and  still  extract  and  retain  the  desirable  constituents  of 
the  drug. 
He  also  said  that  some  principles  which  could  not  be  obtained  with  a  small 
amount  of  dilute  menstruum  could  be  extracted  from  the  drug  by  the  use  of 
a  larger  quantity  of  the  solvent,  whereas  in  the  case  of  fluid  extracts  the  object 
was  to  limit  the  quantity  of  menstruum. 
In  his  opinion,  to  consider  the  question  in  reference  to  standardized  fluid  ex- 
tracts was  to  limit  it,  as  many  manufacturers,  who  do  not  standardize  these  prep- 
arations, nevertheless  give  directions  for  diluting  them  in  the  preparation  of 
tinctures. 
The  speaker  remarked  upon  the  custom  among  manufacturers  of  storing  fluid 
extracts  for  a  time  and  then  removing  the  precipitates  formed,  and  questioned 
the  propriety  of  making  tinctures  from  fluid  extracts  thus  deprived  of  some  of 
their  constituents. 
On  motion,  the  meeting  adjourned. 
T.  S.  WlEGAND, 
Registrar. 
