ON  TINCTURA  ARNICiE. 
11 
with  some  water,  at  a  temperature  ranging  between  70  and  75^ 
C.  (158  to  167"^  F.)  for  half  an  hour  or  an  hour,  and  then  ex- 
pressed. The  mixed  liquor  is  evaporated  in  a  steam  bath  to  a 
syrupy  consistence,  then  mixed  with  an  equal  weight  of  alcohol, 
and  after  24  hours  strained.  The  residue  is  again  macerated 
with  one  fourth  of  alcohol  of  '900  spec.  grav.  and  expressed. 
After  filtration,  the  liquor  is  evaporated  with  constant  stir- 
ring to  the  consistency  of  a  pill  mass.  Thus  prepared  it  is  of 
dark  brown  color,  and  yields  with  water  or  diluted  alcohol  an 
almost  clear  solution ;  it  may  be  given  in  doses  of  from  5  to  15 
grains  twice  or  thrice  a  day. 
Rademacher  employed  a  tinctura  chelidonii,  prepared  by  di- 
gesting the  fresh  herb  with  its  own  weight  of  alcohol,  and 
employed  it  in  doses  of  from  15  to  30  drops,  two,  three  or  four 
times  a  day. 
It  is  frequently  prescribed  with  ammonia,  assafoetida,  tarax- 
acum, rhubarb,  ox-gall,  conium,  soap,  and  preparations  of  anti- 
mony and  mercury.  A  favorite  prescription  of  some  physicians 
of  my  acquaintance  has  been  :  Powdered  rhubarb  and  chloride 
of  ammonium,  of  each  one  drachm,  extract  of  celandine  two 
drachms ;  to  be  made  into  120  pills,  of  which  from  3  to  6  are 
given  twice  or  three  times  a  day. 
Philadelphia,  Dec.  ith,  1860. 
ON  TINCTURA  ARNICA. 
By  William  Procter,  Jr. 
It  is  well  known  that  this  preparation  is  now  largely  employed 
by  the  public  as  an  external  application  for  bruises,  and  notwith- 
standing the  contempt  with  which  its  powers  have  been  spoken 
of  by  eminent  members  of  the  medical  profession  it  has 
gradually  gained  ground  among  practitioners  of  medicine  and 
may  now  be  considered  as  among  the  probable  novelties  of  the 
revised  edition  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia 
In  view  of  this  probability  it  is  desirable  that  a  recipe  should 
be  adopted  that  will  merit  in  all  respects  the  confidence  of  the 
physician.  Various  formulas  have  been  published  in  which  the 
strength  varies  from  two  to  four  ounces  to  the  pint,  with  men- 
strua ranging  from  diluted  alcohol  to  alcohol  of  95  per  cent. 
The  points  to  be  accomplished  in  the  successful  preparation 
of  this  tincture  are  that,  being  for  external  application,  it  should 
