Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Sept.,  1878.  J 
Infusum  Digitalis. 
423 
after  a  portion  had  stood  a  few  days  a  precipitate  was  again  formed. 
This  portion  was  returned  to  the  filter  and,  as  in  each  successive  por- 
tion a  precipitate  was  formed  after  standing,  the  filtration  was  continued 
until  the  whole  quantity  had  passed  through  the  pulp  four  or  five  times, 
the  process  of  filtration  occupying  six  weeks. 
As  it  seemed  disposed  to  precipitate  for  an  indefinite  length  of  time, 
I  commenced  operating  on  the  precipitate  I  had  obtained,  which  I  esti- 
mated to  be  not  more  than  two  drachms.  First  washed  the  pulp  with 
which  it  was  mixed  with  distilled  water,  then  dried  the  whole  on  a 
water-bath,  introduced  it  into  a  percolator  and  moistened  with  men- 
struum of  three  parts  of  stronger  alcohol  and  one  part  of  distilled 
water  ;  as  soon  as  dropping  commenced,  corked  and  set  aside  in  a 
moderately  warm  place  for  four  days  ;  then  removed  the  cork  and  con- 
tinued the  percolation,  adding,  when  the  liquid  had  disappeared  from 
the  surface,  two  fluidounces  of  the  same  menstruum  and  afterwards 
diluted  alcohol,  until  five  and  one-third  fluidounces  of  percolate  were 
obtained  ;  evaporated  the  percolate  to  one  fluidounce,  added  10  minims 
acetic  acid  and  8  grains  animal  charcoal  ;  set  aside  for  24  hours,  filtered, 
obtaining  a  clear  solution  ;  almost  neutralized  with  aqua  ammoniae,  then 
gradually  added  25  grains  of  tannic  acid  dissolved  in  one  fluidounce  of 
distilled  water.  The  mixture  remained  clear.  From  this  I  inferred 
the  absence  of  digitalin. 
Inferring  from  my  observations  that  the  precipitate  in  infusion  of 
digitalis  is  caused  by  the  cinnamon,  I  made  a  quart  of  infusion  omitting 
the  tincture  of  cinnamon  and  using  instead  the  required  quantity  of 
alcohol  and  water  in  the  proportions  used  in  making  tincture  of  cinna- 
mon. The  result  was  a  preparation  that  remained  clear  for  a  much 
longer  time  than  the  officinal  infusion. 
As  an  additional  proof  that  the  precipitate  is  caused  by  cinnamon 
may  be  cited  the  precipitate  that  is  formed  in  each  of  the  liquid  pre- 
parations of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  containing  cinnamon.  To  prove 
that  these  precipitates  are  caused  by  cinnamon  the  following  experi- 
ments were  made  : 
Cinnamon  was  exhausted  by  alcohol  in  the  same  proportion  as 
directed  for  elixir  of  vitriol,  and  then  mixed  with  the  requisite  quantity 
of  sulphuric  acid.  This  mixture  remained  clear  only  a  few  minutes, 
then  a  copious  precipitate  was  formed.  Ginger,  treated  in  precisely  the 
same  manner,  gave  a  liquid  which  was  permanently  clear,  and  when 
