502 
Extract  of  Guar  ana.  etc. 
$  Av.  Jodr  Pharm, 
\     Kov.  1, 1874. 
If  the  attempt  be  made,  under  such  circumstances,  to  supply  the 
waste  occasioned  by  excessive  evaporation,  it  may  be  the  means  of 
causing  precipitation  or  other  untoward  result,  when  this  portion  of 
the  percolate  is  added  to  the  reserved  portion.  It  is  the  object  of  the 
suggestions  offered  in  this  paper  to  impress  indelibly,  if  possible,  upon 
the  minds  of  all  inexperienced  pharmacists  the  importance  of  these 
little  points  that  are  so  essential  to  success  in  all  pharmaceutical  man- 
ipulations, yet  which  are  so  often  overlooked,  both  by  writers  and 
teachers. 
In  writing  upon  subjects  of  this  kind,  I  hold  that  the  author  should 
be  as  exhaustive  as  possible,  for  it  is  better,  in  such  cases,  to  err  on 
the  side  of  prolixity  than  on  that  of  brevity. 
In  this  respect,  Dr.  Squibb  is-  I  consider,  a  model,  and  should  be 
an  example  to  all  who  pretend  to  essay  this  kind  of  writing.  For 
perspicuity,  I  think  the  doctor  surpasses  any  writer  in  this  country 
on  practical  pharmacy. 
It  is  just  this  lack  of  explanatory  detail  in  our  Pharmacopoeia  that 
often  deters  many,  especially  young  and  inexperienced  pharmacists, 
from  making  mauy  of  the  preparations  which  they  now  buy  ready- 
made. 
The  directions  given  for  the  manufacture  of  many  of  the  prepar- 
ations in  our  Pharmacopoeia  are  entirely  too  brief  and  inexplicit.  The 
U.  S.  Dispensatory,  in  some  instances,  supplies  the  deficiency  to  some 
extent. 
If  the  directions  in  the  Pharmacopoeia  were  supposed  to  be  ad- 
dressed to  scientific  and  experienced  chemists  and  pharmacists,  they 
would  then  be  all  that  we  could  ask,  but,  unfortunately,  they  are  not- 
I  hope  to  see  some  improvement  made  in  this  respect  in  the  next  re- 
vision. It  is  but  a  small  volume,  and  a  slight  increase  in  size  would 
not  render  it  unwieldy. 
When  a  hydro-alcoholic  liquid  is  to  be  evaporated,  and  it  is  im- 
portant that  all  the  spirituous  portion  should  be  expelled  ;  for  ex- 
ample, as  was  formerly  the  case  in  the  manufacture  of  the  fluid  ex- 
tract of  ipecac, — this  is  only  imperfectly  accomplished  when  the  liquid 
is  not  diligently  stirred.  The  agitation  throws  fresh  portions  of  the 
liquid  constantly  to  the  surface,  and  thus  favors  the  liberation  of  the 
alcohol. 
By  the  above  process  I  obtained  from  nine  hundred  and  sixty 
grains  of  powdered  guarana,  three  hundred  and  thirty  grains  of  exr 
