568 
Preparations  of  Aconite. 
( Am.Jour.  Pharm. 
\      Nov.,  1882. 
this  is  so  very  far  from  being  the  case  as  to  be  outside  of  all  proba- 
bility of  eithei'  error  in  calculation  or  error  in  degree  of  impression 
made. 
The  standard  dilution  for  comparison  adopted  here  is  one-third  of 
a  minim  of  fluid  extract  diluted  to  one  fluidrachm,  and  this,  by  the 
assumption  of  0  07  per  cent,  of  aconitia  in  the  root,  is  equivalent  to,  or 
should  contain  '00023 -|-  grain,  or  say,  for  simplicity  of  expression, 
three  ten-thousandths  ('OOOS)  of  a  grain.  Then  it  follows  that  a 
fluidrachm  or  3.7  cc.  of  water  containing  0*0003  grain  of  pure  aconitia 
should  give  a  distinct  full  impression  in  the  mouth  of  the  duration  of 
about  1'5  hour,  which  is  very  far  from  being  the  case,  even  with  the 
strongest  aconitia. 
The  following  varieties  of  aconitia  of  the  market  were  tried  with 
the  results  stated: 
There  is  no  maker  of  aconitia  in  this  country  known  to  the  writer. 
The  first  aconitia  tried  bears  the  label  of  a  well-known  manufactur- 
ing house  of  this  country,  but  it  is  believed  that  they  buy  what  in 
their  judgment  is  the  best  they  can  get  in  Europe,  and  then  put  it 
forth  with  their  own  label.  Unfortunately  this  is  the  aconitia  which 
the  writer  has  been  ignorantly  buying  and  using  for  more  than  a  year 
past  to  make  oleate  of  aconitia,  and  consequently  the  oleate  has  been 
proportionately  worthless.  Two  grains  =  '130  gramme  of  this  aconitia 
was  dissolved  in  50  cc.  of  distilled  water,  acidulated  with  '2  cc.  of 
acetic  acid.  The  trials  Avere  commenced  by  taking  1  cc.—^j  of  a  grain 
of  aconitia,  diluting  it  with  distilled  water  to  1  fluidrachm  =  3.7  cc, 
and,  under  the  conditions  before  described,  holding  it  in  the  mouth  for 
one  minute.  No  impression  was  obtained  until  the  dose  reached  4 
cc.  =  of  a  grain,  and  then  the  impression  was  hardly  stronger  than 
that  from  one-tenth  of  a  minim  of  the  fluid  extract,  and  certainly  no 
stronger  than  that  from  one-sixth  of  a  minim  of  fluid  extract.  There- 
fore, this  aconitia,  costing  $14  per  ounce,  is  but  just  the  aconite 
strength  of  a  well-made  fluid  extract.  Its  solution,  however,  was  so 
very  bitter  as  to  show  that  one  or  more  other  alkaloids  were  present, 
and  it  is  possible  that  it  mainly  consists  of  a  decomposition  product 
named  by  Wright  "  picraconitine,'^  from  its  bitterness.  (See  ^^Year- 
Book  of  Pharmacy"  for  1877,  p.  466.)  This  aconitia  would  have 
been  tested  farther  but  that  the  bitterness  caused  such  a  flow  of  saliva 
as  to  change  the  conditions  of  the  trial. 
The  next  variety  of  aconitia  tried  was  that  of  .Merck,  of  Darm- 
