Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  | 
April,  19 1 8.  i 
Method  of  Cleaning  Digitalis. 
241 
Cleaning  Process. — The  dried  leaves  were  placed  in  seven  steel 
storage  bins  holding  approximately  16  Kg.  each.  The  subsequent 
cleaning  and  study  of  the  drug  was  carried  on  some  two  months 
later,  at  which  time  it  was  desired  to  prepare  the  drug  in  a  form 
suitable  for  the  preparation  of  U.  S.  P.  infusion  and  tincture.  The 
handling  of  the  dried  drug  gave  evidence  of  the  presence  of  much 
adhering  and  easily  separable  silt,  although  the  product  appeared 
much  cleaner  than  the  average  commercial  sample  and  was  of  a 
uniform  rich  green  color.  The  ease  with  which  the  adhering  mate- 
rial separated  suggested  the  possibility  of  further  cleaning  by  shak- 
ing the  broken  leaves  on  a  coarse  screen. 
Fig.  1.  Schutz-O'Neill  Gyrator  Sifter,  used  for  special  cleaning  of 
digitalis  and  general  drug  sifting  in  the  Drug  Milling  Laboratory,  College  of 
Pharmacy,  University  of  Minnesota. 
A  bronze  window  screen  having  fourteen  meshes  to  the  linear 
inch  was  placed  upon  the  body  of  a  No.  1  Schutz-O'Neill  Gyrator 
Sifter,  the  top  and  regular  screen  frame  being  first  removed.  A 
frame  y/2  inches  high  was  constructed  around  the  edges  of  the 
window  screen  and  fitted  tightly  down  upon  it.  Approximately  2 
Kg.  of  digitalis  leaves  were  thrown  upon  the  screen  at  one  time,  and 
then  the  machine,  which  was  operated  by  a  2  H.  P.  motor,  was  set 
in  motion.  This  operation  resulted  in  separating  17.128  Kg.  of 
screenings  from  a  total  of  81.984  Kg.  of  clean  leaves.  These 
