23Q 
Elixir  Glycyrrhizte. 
(Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
(      May,  1877. 
the  elixir  will  completely  disguise,  prove  that  the  bitterness  of  from  10 
to  12  grains  is  masked,  while  with  from  15  to  20  grains  there  is  but  a 
slight  bitterness  observed,  comparatively  speaking.  Hitherto  the  great 
objection  to  quinia  as  a  medicine,  especially  when  given  in  a  liquid 
form,  has  been  its  very  bitter  taste.  There  are  few  sick  or  convales- 
cent patients  who  can  take  it  in  solution  ;  besides  it  is  frequently  pre- 
scribed for  young  children,  and  to  prepare  it  for  those  in  as  palatable 
a  condition  as  possible  is  the  great  object  of  elixir  glycyrrhizae,  which  I 
hope  will  fill  a  vacant  place  in  the  line  of  the  many  elegant  pharma- 
ceutical preparations,  and  one  which  I  am  satisfied,  from  my  own  ob- 
servations, will  meet  the  hearty  approval  of  the  medical  fraternity. 
The  elixir  taraxaci  comp.  of  Mr.  P.  C.  Candidus,  a  formula  for 
which  preparation  was  presented  to  the  American  Pharmaceutical 
Association,  1869,  is  also  intended  to  mask  the  bitterness  of  quinia,  and 
will  be  found  to  contain,  as  one  of  the  ingredients,  liquorice  root  ;  there 
is  no  doubt  but  this  root  is  the  one  which  has  the  effect  of  concealing 
the  bitter  taste  of  many  nauseating  medicines.  The  main  objection,  I 
find,  to  Mr.  Candidus'  preparation  is,  that  in  a  short  time  it  becomes 
turbid  and  presents  an  unsightly  appearance,  whilst  thus  far  the  elixir 
of  liquorice  root  has  remained  perfectly  clear,  and  seems,  therefore, 
preferable  as  an  adjuvant. 
Regarding  the  mode  of  action  of  liquorice  root  in  disguising  the  taste 
of  bitter  medicines  better  than  other  sweet  principles,  I  would  refer 
the  reader  to  an  article  by  Mr.  Joseph  M.  Hirsh,  published  in  this 
journal  in  1871,  p.  77,  and  copied  from  the  "  Proc.  Am.  Pbar.  Asso,,'? 
1870,  wherein  he  says,  "  When  glycyrrhizin  or  liquorice  dissolves  upon 
the  tongue,  the  latter  soon  becomes  furred,  coated  ;  this  coat  being  a 
coagulum  of  the  albumen  of  the  saliva  with  the  glycyrrhizin.  A  few 
tests  convinced  me  that  even  a  weak  solution  of  albumen  coagulates 
readily  with  glycyrrhizin,  and  I  took  the  artificial  coating  of  the  nerves 
produced  by  the  albuminous  coagulum  of  glycyrrhizin  to  be  the  true 
cause  of  its  masking  bitterness."  And  in  order  to  prove  this  assertion, 
other  drugs  which  also  coagulate  albumen,  for  example  carbolic  acid, 
were  experimented  with,  and  found  to  have  a  similar  effect. 
My  object  here  is  to  bring  this  subject  again  before  the  medical  and 
pharmaceutical  professions  and  recommend  its  use,  and  also  to  furnish  a 
formula  for  a  preparation  which  is  much  pleasanter  than  simple  syrup 
and  to  the  former  decidedly  palatable. 
