AmMaya8P96iarn1'}      Compound  Syr  up  of  White  Pine.  233 
COMPOUND  SYRUP  OF  WHITE  PINE.1  _ 
By  Robert  S.  Sherwin,  Ph.G. 
Compound  syrup  of  white  pine  is  a  very  popular  expectorant 
that  is  used  in  many  parts  of  this  country. 
All  large  manufacturing  pharmacists  who  do  not  deal  solely  in 
specialties  manufacture  this  syrup.  Originally  the  formulas  varied 
somewhat.    One  of  these  older  formulas  was  as  follows,  for  one 
fluid  ounce : 
White  pine  bark   20  grains. 
Ipecac   15  " 
Chloroform   ,   4  minims. 
Morphine  acetate    .  .   y%  grain. 
The  names  of  the  ingredients  that  I  selected  to  manipulate  were 
taken  from  the  label  of  a  large  manufacturing  pharmacist.  His 
syrup,  from  the  information  I  have  obtained,  has  by  far  the  widest 
sale. 
According  to  the  labels  on  a  number  of  different  syrups,  the 
ingredients  are  practically  identical. 
I  have  found  that  the  white  pine  bark  that  is  used  in  this  prepara- 
tion should  be  taken  from  those  parts  of  the  limbs  or  trunk  on 
which  either  little  or  no  cork  formation  has  taken  place,  as  those 
parts  contain  the  most  oleoresin. 
The  bark  from  the  older  parts  of  the  tree,  and  especially  that 
from  old  trunks,  contains  practically  no  oil  and  very  little  resin ;  it 
is  composed  almost  entirely  of  cork.  This  older,  corky  bark  is  all 
that  I  have  been  able  to  obtain  from  different  wholesale  druggists. 
When  making  this  syrup  I  collected  the  bark  myself.  I  have  found 
that  it  is  collected  more  easily  in  the  spring  of  the  year  than  in  the 
late  summer  or  fall.  I  have  made  the  syrup  from  both  the  fresh 
and  dried  bark,  and  find  the  dried  to  be  not  only  more  easily  manip- 
ulated, but  also  to  afford  a  better  preparation.  In  preparing  the 
syrup  I  use  the  sulphate  of  morphine.  The  hydrochlorate  may  be 
used,  and  the  acetate  is  used  by  some  manufacturers ;  the  latter, 
however,  is  not  so  invariable  in  quality  as  the  sulphate.  I  use  one- 
half  the  quantity  of  chloroform  that  is  stated  on  the  labels  of  the 
various  manufacturing  pharmacists,  yet  my  finished  product  contains 
more  chloroform  than  any  of  the  commercial  samples  that  have 
1  Abstracted  from  a  thesis  presented  to  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy. 
