564 
Preparations  of  Aconite. 
f  Am.  .Tour.  Pliarn*. 
t      Nov.,  1882. 
extract  of  the  root  being  one  minim,  the  equivalent  dose  of  the  fluid 
extract  of  the  leaf  would  be  nine  minims,  and  this  is  probably  the  pro- 
per relation. 
Next  100  cc,  equal  to  1,623  minims  of  the  fluid  extract  of  aconite 
root,  which  is  equal  to  1,623  grains  of  the  powdered  root,  and  weighs 
88  grams,  was  evaporated  to  the  condition  of  a  solid  extract  of 
which  it  yielded  15  grams,  or  about  232  grains.  This,  calculated 
upon  the  powder  represented,  is  14'3  per  cent.  From  this  it  is  shoAvn. 
that  the  dose  of  the  solid  extract  of  aconite  root  which  corresponds  to 
one  minim  of  the  fluid  extract  and  to  one  grain  of  the  powder  is,  "143 
grain,  or  a  little  over  an  eighth  ('125)  of  a  grain,  provided  there  be  no 
loss  of  activity  in  the  evaporation.  But  that  there  always  is  such  a 
loss  is  well  known,  so  that  the  equivalent  dose  is  really  greater  in  pro- 
portion to  this  loss.  The  U.  S.  Dispensatory  gives  the  dose  of  this 
extract  as  one-sixth  to  one-quarter  of  a  grain  three  times  a  day.  The 
National  Dispensatory  gives  one-sixth  to  one-third  of  a  grain,  and  thus 
neither  are  out  of  the  way. 
Then  100  cc.  equal  1,623  minims  of  the  fluid  extract  of  the  dried 
leaf,  equal  to  1,623  grains  of  the  powdered  leaf,  and  weighing  86*8 
grams,  was  evaporated  to  the  condition  of  a  solid  extract,  of  which 
it  gave  15  grams,  or  232  grains,  or  14*3  pc.  of  the  weight  of  the 
powder. 
Now,  if  the  dose  of  the  extract  of  the  root  be  one-sixth  to  one- 
quarter  of  a  grain,  the  equivalent  dose  of  this  extract  of  the  dried 
leaf  would  be  nine-sixths  to  nine-quarters  of  a  grain,  or  one  and  a 
half  to  two  and  a  quarter  grains.  This  is  a  somewhat  stronger  pre- 
paration than  the  officinal  ''Extractum  Aconiti'^  of  the  U.  S.  P.,  and 
the  U.  S.  Dispensatory  gives  the  dose  of  the  officinal  extract  as  "half 
a  grain  or  a  grain  to  be  gradually  increased  if  necessary,^'  and  the 
National  Dispensatory  gives  the  same  dosage.  This,  as  will  be  seen, 
is  just  about  one-third  of  the  proper  dose  equivalent  to  the  dose  they 
give  of  the  extract  of  the  root,  and  would  doubtless  be  proportionately 
inefficient. 
The  British  Pliarmacopoeia  extract  of  the  "Fresh  Leaves  and 
Flowering  Tops  of  Aconite"  cannot  be  compared  with  the  above  for 
want  of  proper  data.  The  U.  S.  Dispensatory  gives  the  dose  of  this 
preparation  as  one  or  two  grains  night  and  morning,  and  says  that  as 
much  as  twenty  grains  or  more  have  been  given  in  the  course  of  a, 
day.    The  National  Dispensatory  gives  the  dose  as  half  a  grain  to  a 
