424  Infusum  Digitalis.  {^l^'SfST^ 
mixed  with  the  cinnamon  preparation  the  result  was,  apparently,  the 
officinal  elixir  of  vitriol. 
For  an  aqueous  preparation  the  compound  infusion  of  catechu  was 
selected.  A  portion  was  made  according  to  the  officinal  process  and 
another  portion  omitting  the  cinnamon.  In  the  officinal  a  precipitate 
settled  to  the  bottom  in  a  few  hours,  in  the  portion  from  which  the 
cinnamon  was  omitted  no  such  precipitate  was  formed. 
Though  the  tests  to  which  the  precipitate  in  the  officinal  infusion  of 
digitalis  was  subjected  would  seem  to  indicate  that  it  contains  no  digi- 
talin,  and  that  it  would,  therefore,  be  proper  to  pour  off  and  dispense 
the  supernatant  liquid,  yet  this  does  not  afford  a  satisfactory  prepara- 
tion, it  being  turbid,  unpalatable  and,  if  recently  made,  liable  to  further 
precipitation.  In  the  hope  of  discovering  a  formula  that  would  prove 
a  desirable  substitute  for  the  present  officinal  process,  I  made  the  fol- 
lowing experiments,  using  the  English  leaves,  which  I  found  to  yield 
a  precipitate  similar  to  that  from  the  German  leaves  :  To  one-half  pint 
of  the  aqueous  infusion  I  added  an  elixir  of  licorice  made  according  to 
Kennedy's  formula  ("Am.  Jour.  Pharm.,"  1876,  p.  231).,  but  before 
enough  had  been  added  to  mask  the  bitter  taste,  a  precipitate  was 
formed.  To  another  portion  of  the  infusion  spirit  of  cinnamon  was 
added,  but  with  the  same  result.  I  then  tried  exhausting  one  drachm 
of  digitalis  with  three  fluidounces  of  boiling  water,  adding,  when  cold, 
five  fluidounces  of  distilled  cinnamon  water,  and  filtering.  And  the 
same  process  was  followed  using  cinnamon  water  made  from  the  oil. 
These  two  preparations  were  unexceptionable  in  appearance,  but  the 
bitter  taste  of  the  digitalis  was  not  disguised. 
I  next  used  glycerin,  adding  it  to  the  officinal  infusion.  I  ascer- 
tained that  to  prevent  precipitation  there  must  be  added  to  one-half 
pint  of  infusion  at  least  two  fluidounces  of  glycerin,  which  should  first 
be  mixed  with  the  fluidounce  of  tincture  of  cinnamon  and  then  added 
to  the  aqueous  portion.  This  affords  the  most  palatable  preparation  of 
any  that  I  have  tried,  and  has  stood  for  several  weeks  without  any 
signs  of  precipitation  ;  but  the  quantity  of  glycerin  required  is  objec- 
tionably large. 
From  the  foregoing  it  will  be  seen  that  I  have  not  succeeded  in  dis- 
covering an  unobjectionable  adjuvant  for  the  infusion  which  will  dis- 
guise the  taste  of  digitalis  without  producing  a  precipitate.  Generally,, 
in  pharmaceutical  preparations,  it  is  desirable  to  avoid  occasioning  a, 
