3i6 
Substitute  for  Alcohol. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
July,  1900. 
Diluted  in  the  proportion  of  i  c.c.  to  60  c.c.  of  water,  the  U.S. P.  buckthorn 
gives  an  opaque  mixture  with  a  heavy  deposit. 
U.S. P.  buckthorn  gives  an  opaque  mixture  with  a  heavy  deposit. 
' '     cascara  gives  a  muddy  mixture  with  a  heavier  deposit. 
Acid  buckthorn  gives  a  nearly  clear  dilution,  very  slight  deposit. 
"  cascara  gives  a  nearly  clear  dilution,  heavier  deposit. 
These  dilutions,  which  are  about  right  for  administration,  are  all 
bitter,  but  of  quite  different  degrees  and  character  of  bitterness. 
The  U.S.P.  cascara  is  a  moderately  strong  and  not  an  agreeable 
bitter.  The  acid  cascara  is  quite  as  strong  a  bitter,  but  more  agree- 
able on  account  of  the  acidity  which  is  barely  perceptible. 
The  U.S.P.  buckthorn  is  very  slightly  bitter — hardly  disagree- 
ably so;  and  the  acid  buckthorn  has  this  very  slight  bitterness 
agreeably  modified  by  the  perceptible  acidity. 
On  the  whole,  the  sensible  properties  are  decidedly  in  favor  of  the 
acetic  acid  menstruum. 
But  this  does  not  serve  to  compare  the  therapeutic  or  medicinal 
value  of  the  menstrua,  and  as  there  is  no  separable  active  principle 
for  comparison  by  quantitative  assay  this  becomes  a  difficult  point, 
not  to  be  reached  with  critical  accuracy. 
Still,  as  the  barks  have  a  very  decided  and  uncomplicated  thera- 
peutic activity,  it  was  thought  that  a  useful  comparison  might  be 
made  by  dosage  administration. 
The  two  fluid  extracts  of  buckthorn  and  cascara  each  represented 
the  bark  from  which  it  was  made  in  the  proportion  of  cubic  centi- 
metre for  gramme  (or  minim  for  grain),  and  with  these  a  compari- 
son of  physiological  activity  was  attempted. 
A  person  was  found  in  fair  ordinary  digestive  health  with  regular 
habits  of  diet  and  exercise,  having  a  daily  alvine  discharge.  This 
daily  discharge  was  of  fairly  uniform  character,  small  in  volume  but 
hard  in  consistence,  of  good  dark  color,  well  elaborated  and  dis- 
charged slowly  with  much  effort,  and  by  habit,  without  desire,  at 
bedtime. 
In  short,  this  is  a  case  of  simple  constipation  kept  under  control 
by  force  of  habit,  and  although  it  is  but  a  single  case,  and  as  such 
is  a  law  unto  itself  only,  it  served  fairly  well  upon  which  to  measure 
the  activity  of  these  fluid  extracts.  The  time  for  the  habitual  daily 
discharge  was  bedtime.  The  time  for  taking  the  doses  was  after 
each  of  the  three  daily  meals.    The  intervals  after  the  general  trials 
