572 
Warburg  s  Tincture. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
X  December,  1900. 
The  original  formula  directs  proof  spirit  (49  y2  per  cent,  by  weight 
of  absolute  alcohol),  while  the  N.F.  directs  diluted  alcohol  (41  per 
cent,  by  weight  of  absolute  alcohol). 
According  to  the  Druggists'  Circular1  the  original  formula 
called  for  "  quinia "  (presumably  the  sulfate  was  intended).  The 
United  States  Dispensatory  in  giving  the  original  formula  directs 
quinine  sulfate,  and  the  National  Dispensatory,  quinine  bisulfate. 
The  bisulfate  is  certainly  preferable  because  of  its  greater  solubility 
in  the  menstruum  employed. 
The  N.F.  directs  the  anti-periodic  tincture  without  aloes  to  be 
prepared  by  reducing  the  fibrous  vegetable  drugs  to  a  No.  20 
powder,  adding  the  myrrh  and  camphor  and  digesting  the  whole 
on  a  water-bath  during  12  hours  in  a  suitable  well-covered 
vessel  with  the  proper  amount  of  diluted  alcohol,  avoiding  as  much 
as  possible  any  loss  of  alcohol  by  evaporation. 
The  tincture  with  aloes  of  the  second  edition  of  the  N.F.  is  pre- 
pared by  dissolving  17-5  grammes  of  extract  of  aloes,  U.S. P.,  in 
1,000  c.c.  of  the  tincture  without  aloes.  The  first  edition  of  the 
N.F.  directed  the  use  of  only  28  grains  in  1  pint  of  tincture. 
It  appears  as  if  Dr.  Warburg  only  published  a  formula  for  the 
regular  tincture  which  was  directed  to  be  prepared  with  Socotrine 
aloes  as  a  constituent. 
Warburg's  original  formula  directed  the  tincture  to  be  prepared 
by  digesting  the  vegetable  drugs  with  proof  spirit  in  a  water-bath 
for  12  hours,  expressing,  adding  "  quinia  "  and  replacing  on  a  water- 
bath  until  it  was  all  dissolved.  "  The  liquor,  when  cool,  was  fil- 
tered." 
The  original  formula  does  not  direct  a  definite  yield  of  finished 
preparation. 
It  does  not  appear  whether  the  original  preparation  remained 
clear  or  became  turbid.  The  preparation  must  be  clear,  however, 
in  order  to  meet  the  demands  of  "  elegant  "  pharmacy  of  to-day. 
That  the  N.F.  method  does  not  produce  a  clear  tincture  has  been 
repeatedly  stated. 
The  Druggists'  Circular?  in  commenting  on  the  N.F.  tincture, 
states  that  it  is  an  "  unsatisfactory  one  from  a  pharmaceutical  stand- 
1  February,  1876,  and  July,  1899. 
^Druggists'  Circular,  1899,  pages  89,  T38  and  154  ;  1900,  page  167. 
