PREPARATIONS  OF  TARAXACUM. 
343 
very  efficient  in  the  case  of  extracts  prone  to  mouldiness.  I 
place  such  in  covered  pots,  sprinkle  the  surface  of  the  extract 
with  spirit,  and  then  hermetically  seal  them,  by  closely  apply- 
ing by  the  aid  of  heat  a  strip  of  adhesive  plaster.  Bladder,  if 
sound,  would  have  the  same  effect,  but  is  liable  to  be  perforated 
by  insects  ;  plaster  is  not. 
The  extract  I  should  prefer  would  be  that  obtained  by  directly 
evaporating  the  expressed  juice  of  roots  gathered  in  October, 
after  separating  the  albumen.  It  is  of  the  utmost  importance 
as  regards  uniformity,  that  a  certain  time  should  be  specified 
for  its  preparation,  and  strictly  adhered  to.  Much  as  the  ex- 
tracts prepared  by  different  establishments  differ  among  them- 
selves, the  liquors  differ  still  more,  and  not  unfrequently  ex- 
planations have  to  be  tendered  as  to  why  the  medicine  sent  by 
you  is  so  different  in  taste  and  appearance  from  that  obtained 
elsewhere.  Now,  men  conscientiously  endeavoring  to  do  their 
best,  ought  not  to  be  laid  open  to  these  annoyances,  from  which 
the  publication  of  an  authorized  formula  would  relieve  them. 
The  forthcoming  Pharmacopoeia  will  doubtless  afford  a  remedy. 
I  made  the  passing  remark,  the  truth  of  which  most  present  can 
certify  to,  that  patients,  as  an  almost  invariable  rule,  firmly  be- 
lieve that  the  first  time  their  medicine  was  dispensed  it  was  dis- 
pensed correctly,  and  that  any  divergence  from  it  marks  an 
error  :  of  the  groundlessness  of  which  opinion  it  is  very  difficult 
for  one  not  backed  by  an  <4  historic  name"  to  convince  them. 
Hence  the  necessity  for  authorized  formulse,  and  what  is  of  at 
least  equal  importance,  sticking  to  them,  which  all  who  regard 
their  brethren's  comfort  should  do,  the  comparative  impurity  of 
historic  names  notwithstanding. 
There  are  three  main  ways  of  preparing  the  liquor  :  1st,  by 
adding  rectified  spirit  to  the  expressed  juice,  without  any  pre- 
vious preparation  ;  2d,  by  evaporating  the  juice  to  a  certain 
extent  and  then  adding  the  spirit ;  3d,  by  redissolving  the  ex- 
tract and  adding  rectified  spirit  to  the  solution.  All  these 
varieties  may  be  obtained  either  bright  or  unfiltered  from  that 
the  spirit  has  precipitated.  A  fourth  kind  is  occasionally  met 
with,  prepared  by  percolating  the  dried  root.  It  is  the  fashion 
to  speak  of  the  first  and  second  when  sold  without  previous  fil- 
tration, as  the  "preserved  milky  juice  of  the  fresh  plant,"  &c. 
