Am.  Jour.  Phaem.  ) 
Nov.  1,  1874,  / 
Extract  of  Guar  ana,  etc. 
503 
tract  of  a  good  pill  consistence,  which  is  about  one-third,  or  thirty- 
three  per  cent,  of  its  weight. 
This  yield  was  the  result  of  a  carefully-conducted  experiment,  in 
which  no  glycerin  was  used;  although  I  do  not  think  that  the 
presence  of  the  glycerin  would  influence  the  result  much,  as  it  simply 
takes  the  place  of  the  water  that  would  otherwise  be  retained  in  the 
extract  to  give  it  consistence. 
This  small  proportion  of  glycerin,  I  think,  will  be  sufficient  to  pre* 
serve  the  extract  in  good  pill  consistence  for  an  almost  indefinite 
period.  I  have  a  sample  of  extract  of  gelsemium  made  in  January, 
1869,  and  another  of  extract  of  opium,  made  about  eighteen  months 
ago,  to  which  was  added  about  the  same  proportion  of  glycerin,  and 
these  extracts  are  both  to-day  in  as  good  condition  as  when  first 
made. 
Pharmacists  would  find  that  the  addition  of  from  five  to  ten  per 
cent,  of  glycerin  to  all  extracts  which  are  prone  to  harden  in  keeping 
would  save  them  the  annoyance  which  is  so  frequently  experienced 
in  dispensing  from  this  cause. 
I  have  been  in  the  habit,  also,  of  incorporating  a  small  portion  of 
glycerin  with  blue  mass  just  when  it  begins  to  stiffen  and  become 
inconvenient  for  forming  into  pills ;  I  add  just  enough  to  restore  it 
to  a  good  pill  condition. 
The  formulae  for  our  officinal  solid  extracts  should  receive  some  atten- 
tion at  the  hands  of  the  Committee  when  engaged  in  making  the  next 
revision  of  our  Pharmacopoeia,  and  among  other  amendments  a  small 
portion  of  glycerin  should  be  directed  in  each,  where  its  use  would 
be  deemed  admissible  and  advantageous ;  so  that  not  only  pharm- 
acists themselves,  but  that  our  wholesale  manufacturers  would  have 
some  guide  in  its  use  in  making  these  preparations  ;  for  it  is  chiefly 
from  these  that  the  retail  pharmacists  derive  their  supply,  as  they 
prepare  comparatively  few  themselves,  though  in  the  case  of  many 
of  the  extracts  they  might  do  so  advantageously.  In  fact,  there  are 
a  few  of  our  solid  extracts  which  I  think  every  conscientious  dispensing 
pharmacist  should  feel  it  obligatory  upon  himself  to  prepare,  such, 
for  instance,  as  rhubarb,  cinchona,  valerian,  and  others  that  might 
be  mentioned.  Some  extracts,  as  obtained  wholesale,  I  have  often 
found  entirely  worthless. 
The  active  constituents  of  some  of  these  extracts,  being  very  sen- 
sitive to  heat  and  atmospheric  influences,  are  very  liable  to  be  injured 
