126 COMPOUND DECOCTION OF ALOES. 
water at 60°, and filtering the solution; a large quantity of 
impurity, consisting of ligneous matter, copper scrapings, 
&c, is separated, and a pure fine flavored solution of liquorice 
is the result. Having thus got rid of the first source of dif- 
ficulty, I proceed as follows: — rub together the aloes, myrrh 
and carbonate of potash, add the solution of liquorice,* the 
rest of the distilled water and the saffron, and boil gently 
until reduced to the proper quantity, set aside the decoction 
until cold, strain through any substance of rather open tex- 
ture, (a piece of muslin answers quite well) and add the 
tincture of cardamoms; during the next forty -eight hours a 
slight precipitate falls, after which no further change takes 
place. It is necessary that distilled water should be used, 
that the myirh and aloes should first be well mixed with 
the carbonate of potash (not added indiscriminately to the 
water,) and that the tincture of cardamoms should be made 
with proof spirit, and not with a mixture of equal parts of 
rectified spirit and water, as sometimes practised. By at- 
tending to these directions, an efficient and uniform prepa- 
ration may be always depended upon, and decoction of aloes 
thus made will keep perfectly well in a cool place for se- 
veral months. The separate maceration of the saffron, as 
proposed by your correspondent in last month's Journal, 
would perhaps be desirable, as I find that the color of saf- 
fron (its only valuable property) is injured by boiling. I 
consider that a resinous soap is formed by the combination 
of the potash with the resin of the myrrh and aloes, and 
that the soap is dissolved and not held mechanically in sus- 
pension, for decoction of aloes is, if carefully prepared, per- 
fectly bright, and in this state it is sent out from Apotheca- 
ries' Hall," 
* We doubt whether any advantage is derived from boiling the ex- 
tract of liquorice, which may be dissolved in a portion of the water, and 
added to the solution of myrrh, aloes, and potash, after the subsidence 
has taken place. — Ed. Pharm. Journal. 
