Am.  Jour.  Pliarm. ) 
Nov.,lS82.  j 
Preparations  of  Aconite. 
573 
eolation  with  alcohol  alone  from  good  root,  is  the  best  and  only  prepa- 
ration needed.  It  is  accurate  and  uniform  and  easy  to  manage  accu- 
rately in  dosage,  and  is  relatively  the  strongest  of  all  the  known  forms 
in  which  the  drug  can  be  used.  For  these  and  many  other  reasons  it 
should  take  the  place  of  all  the  other  preparations,  and  perhaps  also 
that  of  all  the  aconitias. 
Each  parcel  of  it  as  bought  by  the  pharmacist  or  the  physician 
should  be  tested,  and  if  one-tenth  of  a  minim  of  it  diluted  with  a 
fluidrachm  of  water  and  held  in  the  mouth  for  one  minute  does  not 
give  the  aconite  impression  within  ten  minutes,  the  parcel  should  be 
rejected,  or  its  strength  should  be  obtained,  and  doses  increased  accord- 
ingly. 
That  is,  if  double  this  quantity  in  the  same  dilution  should  be 
required  to  give  the  slight  but  distinct  impression,  then  the  dose 
should  be  doubled. 
It  is  best  used  at  the  bedside  in  the  following  way :  A  household 
teaspoon  is  called  for,  and  ten  teaspoonfuls  of  water  are  measured  with 
it  into  a  wine-glass  or  small  cup.  Then  ten  minims  of  the  fluid 
extract  are  added  from  a  minim  pipette,  and  the  mixture  is  well 
stirred.  A  teaspoonful  of  this  represents  a  minim  of  the  fluid  extract, 
if  measured  with  the  same  spoon,  and  this  dose,  if  not  given  oftener 
than  every  three  hours,  will  about  use  up  the  mixture  in  the  24  hours, 
until  the  next  visit,  when  a  fresh  mixture  should  be  made,  and  the 
dosage  varied  according  to  circumstances.  The  teaspoonful  dose 
should  be  put  in  a  wine  glass,  and  about  two  teaspoonfuls  of  water 
added  before  swallowing,  to  avoid  too  strong  an  impression  upon  the 
fauces.  A  mouthful  of  water  immediately  after  the  dose  is  also  useful 
in  moderating  the  local  impression. 
The  fluid  extract  may  also  be  efficiently  used  externally  by  allowing 
successive  drops  to  evaporate  from  any  surface  until  the  desired  dose 
is  reached,  and  then  keeping  the  surface  moist,  that  absorption  may 
take  place. 
This  fluid  extract,  when  of  good  quality,  is  an  exceedingly  potent 
preparation,  and  so  dangerous  that  extreme  caution  is  needed,  not  only 
in  its  use,  but  also  to  prevent  accidents  and  mistakes.  In  prescrip- 
tions the  full  title,  "Fluid  Extract  of  Aconite  Root,"  should  always- 
be  usecl. 
