^"Apririssr""'!         Tindura  Cardamomi  Composita,  .  165 
TINCTUEA  CARDAMOMI  COMPOSITA. 
By  Frank  M.  Wilson. 
Head  before  the  Connecticut  Pharmaceutical  Association,  Feb*  8,  1882. 
Query. — The  compound  tincture  of  cardamom  of  the  Pharmacopoeia 
precipitates  badly.     Can  any  proper  substitute  for  the  honey  be  used 
which  will  be  an  improvement  ? 
This  preparation  has  always  been  considered  one  of  the  elegant 
tinctures,  highly  esteemed  therapeutically  for  its  carminative  proper- 
ties, either  by  itself  or  in  combination  with  stomachics ;  it  is  largely 
employed  as  a  flavoring  and  coloring  agent,  with  or  without  viscid 
ingredients ;  hence  it  is  one  of  the  important  tinctures  of  the  Pharma- 
copoeia. Our  query  truthfully  says  the  officinal  tincture  precipitates 
badly,''  and  inquires  for  a.  remedy,  a  substitute  for  the  honey,  to 
which  it  attributes  the  precipitation.  As  the  honey  of  commerce  is, 
in  the  main,  artificially  produced  from  glucose,  the  common  adulte- 
rant of  saccharine  principles,  in  the  manufacture  of  which  more  than 
twelve  million  bushels  of  corn  were  manipulated  last  year  in  this, 
country  alone,  by  submitting  the  starch  to  the  action  of  dilute  sulphu- 
ric acid  and  heat,  saturating  it  with  some  earthy  carbonate  to  remove 
the  acid,  and  purifying;  and  as  glucose  is  a  cheap,  imperfect  substi- 
tute for  pure  bees'  honey,  aggravating  dyspeptic  symptoms,  setting  up 
fermentative  processes,  causing  flatulence  and  painful  affections  of  the 
bowels,  it  may  be  well  to  eliminate  it  from  the  working  formulae  on 
therapeutic  grounds. 
The  British  Pharmacopoeia  employs  raisins  where  that  of  the  United 
States  directs  honey.  My  friend,  Mr.  Sykes,  has  used  the  British  for- 
mula with  gratifying  results,  producing  a  more  perfect  tincture.  I 
have  had  no  experience  with  it.  After  accepting  this  query  I  began, 
in  a  small  way,  a  series  of  experiments  by  preparing  a  quantity  of  the 
tinctiu'c  by  the  U.  S.  P.  process  of  percolation,  save  that  I  mixed  the 
whole  drugs  and  ground  them  together,  as  I  believe  that  to  be  the 
better  proceeding  with  all  compound  tinctures.  I  prepared  three  six- 
teen ounce  bottles,  and  filled  them  with  the  tincture ;  to  one  I  added 
honey  in  the  requisite  proportions ;  to  the  second,  syrup  (U.  S.  P. 
specific  gravity  1*317);  and  to  the  third.  Bower's  glycerin;  these 
were  severally  filtered,  tightly  stoppered  and,  March  1st,  set  in  line, 
where  they  were  subject  to  the  light  and  changing  spring  and  sum- 
mer temperature  of  the  shoj).    At  the  expiration  of  twenty-four  hours, 
