14 
REPORT ON SYRUP OF SARSAPARILL A. 
One tenth of a grain of the extract No. 2, when agitated 
with half an ounce of water was sufficient, by long agitation, 
to convert all the fluid into froth. No. 3 possessed this 
character less than No. 2, and more than No. 1. This af- 
fords a means of judging approximati vely as to the relative 
amount of salseparine contained in the three extracts. 
The insoluble matterwhich precipitated during the evapo- 
ration of the tincture of Sarsaparilla, had but a very slight 
taste of that root, and hence the preparation is not weaken- 
ed by its separation. 
In making compound syrup of Sarsaparilla with diluted 
alcohol in the usual way, the resinous matter taken up by 
the menstruum from the guaiacum is nearly all precipitated, 
and if not separated subsequently gives the syrup an opaque 
appearance. 
The Committee believe that if the Sarsaparilla was treat- 
ed separately with diluted alcohol, and the residue with wa- 
ter, and the resulting tincture and infusion evaporated to 
the proper quantity, a more beautiful preparation would re- 
sult equally efficient. 
In reference to the second formula in the U. S. Pharma- 
copoeia, the Committee would observe, that it is the same 
as that recommended by the committee of revision of the 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy. That committee when 
engaged on the subject, concluded, from the results of ex- 
periments submitted to them at the time, that water was 
adequate to the extraction of the activity of Sarsaparilla, 
and that all those portions soluble in an alcoholic/and in- 
soluble in a water menstruum, would be precipitated, when 
the alcohol was removed. This remark applies to the 
guaiacum, but to the Sarsaparilla only after standing for 
several days; for, although pure salseparine is but little solu- 
ble in water, yet the results of our experiments sufficiently 
prove that when its solution is effected by treating the root 
with a mixed menstruum, the alcohol may be removed by 
evaporation, without the salseparine immediately separating, 
