20 
Glycerin  in  Pharmacy, 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1878. 
preparations.  Every  pharmacist  has  a  just  pride  in  having  his  prepara- 
tions to  present  an  elegant  appearance,  and  glycerin  will  be  found  use- 
ful as  a  help  to  accomplish  this  purpose. 
The  property  glycerin  possesses  of  preventing  tincture  of  kino  from 
gelatinizing  has  been  known  for  some  time,  and  frequently  published.1 
In  1874,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Wm.  F.  Bender,  Chief  Apothecary 
at  the  Philadelphia  Hospital,  I  began  to  use  glycerin  in  syrup  of  wild 
cherry,  and  have  used  it  since  that  time,  always  obtaining  a  much 
richer-looking  syrup  than  the  officinal,  which  contains  all  the  virtues  of 
the  bark.    The  formula  is  as  follows  : 
Take  of  Wild  cherry,  in  moderately  fine  powder,       .  2jv 
Sugar,  granulated,    ....  ^xxvi 
Glycerin,  concentrated,    .  .  !|ii 
Water,  a  sufficient  quantity. 
Mix  one  ounce  of  glycerin  with  four  of  water,  moisten  the  powder 
and  allow  it  to  stand  36  hours  in  a  close  vessel ;  then  pack  it  firmly  in 
a  conical  percolator,  and  gradually  pour  water  mixed  with  the  remain- 
ing glycerin  until  a  pint  of  filtered  liquid  is  obtained  ;  then  proceed  as 
usual.  A  formula  somewhat  differing  from  this  in  the  details  has  been 
recommended  in  the  "Druggists'  Circular,"  1874,  p.  59. 
Glycerin  has  also  been  found  useful  in  the  preparation  of  several  of 
the  officinal  tinctures,  for  the  different  classes  of  which  it  is  used  in 
different  proportions.  For  the  resinous  tinctures,  half  an  ounce  in  a 
pint  is  quite  sufficient ;  it  will  produce  a  percolate  of  much  richer 
color,  and  will  more  thoroughly  exhaust  the  drug.  For  the  astringent 
and  those  containing  large  quantities  of  coloring  matter,  one  ounce 
in  a  pint  will  prevent  precipitation  for  a  much  longer  time  than  with- 
out it. 
By  following  the  general  formula  given  below  I  have  been  able  to 
produce  very  fine  tinctures,  taking  tincture  of  myrrh  for  example : 
Take  of  Myrrh,  in  fine  powder,  .  •  .  ^iii 
Glycerin,  concentrated,  .  • 
Stronger  alcohol,    .  .  .  Oi 
Alcohol,  a  sufficient  quantity. 
Mix  the  glycerin  with  five  ounces  of  stronger  alcohol,  and  pour 
upon  the  myrrh,  previously  placed  in  a  wide  mouth  bottle  of  sufficient 
1  "Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,"  1877,  p.  299. 
