282  The  Bark  of  Fraxinus  Americana.        { ^"iineriSr"' 
_Cut  the  bean  transversely  into  small  pieces,  place  the  sugar  and  the 
cut  bean  into  an  iron  mortar  of  convenient  size,  and  reduce  to  as  fine 
a  condition  as  practical)le,  after  which  moisten  the  powder  with  a  mix- 
ture of  alcoliol  and  water  in  proper  proportion,  so  as  to  obtain  a  men- 
strunm  containing  not  less  than  fifty  (50)  per  cent,  of  alcohol ;  then 
carefully  pack  the  moistened  pow^der  in  a  cylindrical  percolator,  close 
the  lower  orifice  with  a  cork,  pour  on  more  menstruum  of  the  same 
strength  (sufficient  to  cover  the  surface  of  the  powder),  cover  the  top 
of  the  percolator,  and  allow  it  to  remain  undisturbed  for  twenty-four 
hours ;  then  remove  the  cork  and  permit  percolation  to  proceed,  not 
faster  than  at  the  rate  of  40  drops  per  minute,  and  continue  until  four 
pints  have  passed,  wdien  the  preparation  is  completed. 
A  similar  formula  was  published  in  this  journal,  1876,  page  342. 
THE  BARK  OF  FRAXINUS  AMERICANA. 
Abstract  from  ttvo  Theses  presented  to  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
The  White  or  American  Ash  grows  from  Nova  Scotia  and  New 
Brunswick  to  the  western  shores  of  Lake  Superior,  southward  to  Flo- 
rida and  Louisiana,  and  westward  to  Eastern  Nebraska  and  Kansas. 
It  attains  a  height  of  sixty  to  eighty  feet,  the  trunk  being  from  four 
to  six  feet  in  diameter.  The  wood  is  light,  tough,  very  strong  and 
elastic,  and  is  extensively  used  in  the  manufacture  of  agricultural  imple- 
ments, carriages,  oars,  cabinet-work,  etc.  The  bark  is  collected  from 
the  trunk  and  root,  the  latter  being  preferred.  As  seen  in  commerce 
it  is  usually  in  pieces  varying  from  three  to  six  millimeters  (one-eighth 
to  one-quarter  inch]  in  thickness,  from  twenty-five  to  seventy-five 
millimeters  (one  to  three  inches)  in  width,  and  sometimes  fifteen  centi- 
meters (six  inches)  in  length.  The  suberous  tissue  being  generally 
removed  from  the  old  bark,  this  is  externally  whitish  or  grayish-yel- 
low, sometimes  reddish  or  brown-red,  frequently  Nvith  irregular  longi- 
tudinal ridges  and  warts  from  adhering  cork ;  internally  it  is  yellow 
and  smooth.  Its  transverse  fracture  is  very  fibrous,  its  odor  is  slightly 
aromatic,  and  its  taste  bitter  and  slightly  acrid. 
John  M.  Bradford,  Ph.G.,  determined  the  amount  of  extract  obtain- 
able by  different  menstrua.  The  experiments  aj^pear  to  have  been 
made  with  air-dry  bark,  and  the  amount  of  moisture  left  in  the 
extracts  does  not'  appear  to  have  been  ascertained.    In  each  case  1,000 
