^^^oTissS'""' }  Preparations  of  Aconite.  567 
were  at  first  made  by  dissolving  1  grain^  equal  to  65  milligrams  of 
the  aconitia,  in  50  cc.  of  water.  In  using  these  solutions  it  was 
discovered  that  they  deteriorated  very  rapidly,  and  diminished  in 
strength  after  the  second  day.  In  four  days,  the  weather  being  very 
warm,  they  were  quite  inert,  giving  no  impression  at  all.  Floating 
shreds  of  mycelium  were  noticeable  at  times  on  the  second  day.  The 
dilutions  of  fluid  extract  became  inert  quite  as  quickly  as  those  of  the 
aconitias,  and  it  was  very  striking  to  observe  that  a  dilution  which 
would  give  a  distinct  impression  one  day  might  give  none  whatever  on 
the  next.  The  growth  of  the  cryptograms  appears  to  be  a  measure  and 
the  cause  of  the  decomposition.  Hence  the  indication  is  very  plain 
that  in  the  use  of  all  such  solutions  for  medicinal  purposes,  as  well  as 
for  testing,  they  should  be  freshly  made  every  day,  or  at  most  every 
two  days,  unless  something  be  added  to  preserve  them. 
The  best  and  almost  the  only  definite  authority  found  for  the  pro- 
portion of  aconitia  in  aconite  root  was  C.  R.  Alder  Wright,  D.  Sc., 
Lond.,  whose  investigations  of  the  alkaloids  of  aconite  were  very 
thorough.  In  a  paper  contributed  to  the  British  Phar.  Conference, 
and  published  in  the  "  Year-Book  of  Pharmacy"  for  1876,  at  p.  539, 
this  author  states  that  he  obtained  '03  per  cent,  of  pure  aconitia  from 
the  root  and  0.07  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloids,  crystalline  and  non  crys- 
talline. He  states  the  probability  that  upon  a  larger  manufacturing 
scale,  where  the  mother-liquors  could  be  carried  along  to  a  better 
exhaustion,  the  yield  inight  be  increased  to  '04  per  cent,  of  pure 
aconitia.  It  may,  however,  be  inferred  from  what  he  says  that  there 
is  a  considerable  loss  from  splitting  up  of  the  aconitia  into  other 
bases,  even  from  the  best  process  of  extraction,  namely,  that  of 
Duquesnel,  and  it  may  be  possible  that  all  the  bases  existed  in  the 
root  as  aconitia.  For  the  purposes  of  this  paper  this  possibility  will 
be  assumed,  and  '07  per  cent,  will  be  accepted  as  the  proportion  of 
aconitia  in  good  root,  although  this  is  about  double  the  quantity  really 
obtained  in  working  224  lbs.  of  the  root. 
Upon  this  assumed  strength  of  root,  one  grain  of  the  powder,  or^ts 
liquid  equivalent,  one  minim  of  fluid  extract,  will  contain  seven  ten- 
thousandths  of  a  grain  of  aconitia  (•0007).  Then,  as  one-tenth  of  a 
minim  of  the  flukl  extract  gives  a  distinct  aconite  impression  in  the 
mouth,  it  follows  that  a  tenth  of  seven  ten-thousandths  of  the  alka- 
loid, or  seven  hundred  thousandths  ('00007)  of  a  grain  of  good  aconitia 
should  give  an  equivalent  impression.    But,  as  will  be  seen  hereafter, 
