Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Dec.  1,1874.  J 
Process  of  Percolation. 
551 
COMMENTS  UPON  THE  PROCESS  OF  PERCOLATION. 
By  J.  B.  Moore. 
In  the  last  number  of  this  Journal,  I  published  a  paper  on  "  The 
Extract  and  Fluid  Extract  of  Guarana,"  etc.,  in  which  a  formula  for 
each  of  the  two  preparations  was  given.  In  constructing  these  for- 
mulae and  processes,  it  may  have  been  observed  by  the  reader  that  I 
did  not  adopt  the  tedious  and  no  less  troublesome  and  uncertain 
method  of  percolation  recommended  by  the  Committee  of  Revision  of 
our  present  Pharmacopoeia,  but  have  adhered  to  the  effective  and 
satisfactory  process  of  the  late  edition  of  that  work. 
As  I  consider  that,  in  making  either  a  solid  or  fluid  extract  of  any 
drug,  it  is  of  primary  and  paramount  importance  that  every  care  and 
precaution  be  observed  to  insure,  beyond  peradventure,  the  thorough 
and  complete  exhaustion  of  the  substance.  To  insure  this  in  all 
cases,  a  certain  amount  of  menstruum  is  absolutely  necessary,  and 
even  then,  unless  the  operator  be  an  experienced  hand  and  an  adept 
in  the  process  of  percolation,  in  many  cases  the  result  may  be  uncer- 
tain ;  at  least,  this  has  been  my  experience  in  careful  attention  to 
the  process  ever  since  fluid  extracts  began  to  become  popular.  And 
in  the  hands  of  very  many,  to  whom  the  manufacture  of  fluid  extracts 
will  be  entrusted,  the  thorough  exhaustion  of  the  drug  will  rarely  be 
accomplished  by  the  process  of  the  Pharmacopoeia,  and  with  the 
small  proportion  of  menstruum  which  it  directs  for  these  preparations. 
The  variable  condition  of  different  samples  of  powder  of  the  same 
drug,  when  moistened  by  the  quantity  of  menstruum  directed  in  each 
particular  case  ;  the  care,  experience  and  judgment  requisite,  under 
any  circumstances,  in  the  preparation  of  the  powder  for  packing,  and 
in  properly  packing  it  when  prepared,  to  insure  a  correct  percolation, 
together  with  other  circumstances  involved  in  the  process  which 
might  be  mentioned,  all  tend,  in  an  important  degree,  to  render 
the  result  very  uncertain,  unless  in  the  hands  of  experienced  and  skil- 
ful operators,  of  whom,  unfortunately,  there  are  comparatively  few. 
There  will  also,  I  have  no  doubt,  be  many  country  physicians  who 
will  undertake  this  important  process  for  the  purpose  of  supplying 
themselves  with  fluid  extracts  for  use  in  their  own  practiceo 
In  the  face  of  these  considerations,  and  my  own  sincere  convic- 
tions of  the  inadequacy  of  the  officinal  process  for  making  reliable 
fluid  extracts,  I  could  not  conscientiously  adopt  that  process  in  any 
