ON  EXTRACT  OF  LIQUORICE. 
157 
bandages  for  putrid  wounds,  described  by  me  in  a  former  paper 
nearly  three  years  ago,  are  now  coming  into  very  general  use. — 
London  Pharm.  Journ.  Jan.  1,  1859. 
ON  EXTRACT  OF  LIQUORICE. 
By  M.  A.  Delondre. 
In  the  Journal  de  Pharmacie  for  December,  there  will  be 
found  a  long  report  by  Messrs.  Hottot,  Deschamps  &  Dublanc, 
on  a  note  by  M.  Delondre  on  the  preparation  of  extract  of 
liquorice.  It  has  often  been  asked  why  is  there  so  large  an 
amount  of  insoluble  matter  in  even  the  best  Calabria  liquorice; 
and  it  had  not  been  satisfactorily  shown  whether  this  is  the  re- 
sult of  the  treatment  of  the  root,  or  whether  foreign  substances 
are  added,  perhaps  less  with  the  view  of  adulteration  than  of 
giving  the  extractive  matter  that  consistence  requisite  to  form  it 
into  rolls. 
The  process  indicated  by  M.  Delondre  consisted  simply  in 
treating  liquorice  root  by  displacement  with  hot  water,  and 
rapidly  evaporating  the  infusion  to  the  consistence  proper  for 
making  rolls.  The  commission,  in  carrying  this  process  into  prac- 
tice, were  not  able  to  arrive  at  the  same  result.  In  the  compari- 
son of  M.  Delondre's  extract  with  their  own  and  the  commercial 
product,  they  tried  their  solubility  in  cold  water,  noting  the 
rapidity  of  the  process,  the  specific  gravity  of  the  solution,  its 
spumosity,  the  weight  left  undissolved  by  a  specified  quantity  of 
water,  and  the  amount  precipitated  when  alcohol  was  added  in 
excess  to  such  solutions. 
The  extract  of  liquorice  made  by  the  committee  by  Delondre's 
process  was  dry  and  shining,  but  softened  by  exposure  to  the 
air  for  a  few  days  whilst  the  temperature  was  77°  to  86°  Fahr., 
and  lost  its  shape.  Its  taste  is  less  agreeable  than  the  commer- 
cial article,  or  that  made  by  M.  Delondre  himself.  The  solution 
of  the  extract  in  cold  water  left  10  per  cent,  of  insoluble  residue, 
and  the  clear  solution  mixed  with  an  excess  of  alcohol  95°  caused 
15  per  cent,  of  matter  to  separate  ;  in  all  25  per  cent.  The 
liquorice  prepared  by  M.  Delondre  did  not  lose  its  shape  by  ex- 
posure ;  its  fracture  was  smooth  and  conchoidal ;  its  taste  less 
acrid  than  that  made  by  the  committee,  though  not  as  agreeable 
