120 
ON ALCOHOLIC TINCTURES. 
CONCLUSIONS. 
1. The degrees of strength of the alcohol prescribed by 
the Codex, are not always the most favorable for the solu- 
tion of the largest quantity of the principles contained in the 
substances employed in the preparation of tinctures. 
2. These degrees of strength can scarcely be admitted in 
a general manner, and by analogy, excepting in the case of 
a certain number of substances. Experiment alone can 
determine which is the best in each case. 
3. The proportion of four parts of alcohol, for one of the 
substance employed in the Codex, is scarcely, in any case, 
sufficient to dissolve, entirely, the soluble parts of these 
bodies. The cases in which this proportion is sufficient are 
so rare as to prevent any generalisation. 
4. The quantity of alcohol necessary entirely to exhaust 
a substance, is, in general, five parts of alcohol for one of 
the substance. In certain cases, however, but extremely 
rarely, this proportion is not quite strong enough, but the 
excess of matter dissolved is so trifling, that it may 
be left out of the question in laying down a general rule. 
5. The quantity of alcohol is always sufficient to exhaust 
a substance, when that solvent is in sufficient quantity to 
cover it, and when the substance is herbaceous, as in the 
case of leaves. 
6. The degrees of strength of the alcohol, which I have 
found most adapted for the preparation of different tinctures 
are SO , 56°, 45°. 
We shall find these different degrees of strength arranged 
in the following table, along with the substances for which 
they are adapted. I have also added, in the case of each 
of these tinctures, the quantity of substance equivalent to 1 
gramme of the tincture. 
Before I conclude I must mention a singular fact, which, 
as we may perceive, presented itself in almost every ex- 
periment : in almost every instance when the proportion of 
