244 
Tincture  Deposits. 
f  Am.  Jour  Pharm. 
1       May,  1885. 
proved  to  be  a  fatty  body.  It  is  no  doubt  formed  by  the  slow  evapora- 
tion of  the  ether  rendering  the  fat  less  soluble.  Another  sample 
occurred  in  crystals,  but  was  of  the  same  nature  in  other  respects. 
Tinctum  Nucis  Vomicce. — The  deposit  in  this  case  was  very  suspici- 
ous, being  white  and  in  feathery  crystals.  It  was  carefully  washed 
with  rectified  spirit,  and  the  following  tests  applied: 
1st.  Sulphuric  acid  and  bichromate  of  potash.  No  reaction  for 
strychnia,  only  reduction  of  chromate. 
2d.  Nitric  acid.    Only  faint  yellow  color. 
3d.  Sulphuric  acid  and  gentle  heat,  an  orange-red  color,  but  scarcely 
like  the  loganin  reaction  of  Messrs.  Dunstan  and  Short. 
4th.  Boiling  with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  and  action  upon  Fehling. 
None. 
These  results  being  negative,  I  proceeded  to  dry  some,  and  in  doing 
so  noticed  that  it  melted  and  gave  a  greasy  stain  to  paper ;  this,  together 
with  the  production  of  soap  with  caustic  potash,  proved  it  to  be  noth- 
ing but  fat.  Its  melting  point  was  found  to  be  117°  F.  From  J  gallon 
of  tincture  only  about  5  grains  were  obtained. 
Tinctura  Opii. — This  deposit  was  very  small  indeed,  and  appeared 
as  little  whitish  warty  masses  on  the  sides  of  the  bottle.  They  proved 
to  contain  neither  morphia  nor  meconic  acid. 
I  have  also  received  some  few  deposits  which,  from  the  very  uncer- 
tain nature  of  their  active  principles,  I  have  been  unable  to  examine ; 
they  are  tinct.  cascarilhe,  from  Messrs.  Thresh  and  Wright,  and  tinct. 
cuspariffi  and  senn^e,  from  Mr.  Want,  of  Blackheath.  I  desire  to  thank 
these  gentlemen  and  also  others  who  have  sent  me  these  deposits.  The 
remaining  tinctures  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  either  deposit  so  slightly  as 
to  be  unimportant  and  to  make  the  examination  of  them  a  waste  of 
time,  or  the  drugs  are  themselves  so  little  known  that  any  examination 
is  impossible.^ 
From  the  results  I  have  obtained  we  see  that  the  tinctures  of  the 
British  Pharmacopceia  reuiain  practically  of  the  same  strength  for  any 
reasonable  time  after  preparation ;  that  is,  in  so  far  as  one  may  judge 
from  the  nature  of  their  deposits,  although  of  course  changes  may 
occur  in  the  clear  liquid  by  which  the  amount  of  active  principle  may 
be  either  raised  or  lessened,  but  this  is  not  probable.    It  may  be  said 
1  I  have  since  received  a  large  deposit  from  Mr.  J.  O.  Braithwaite  which 
occurred  in  tinct.  hyoscyami,  the  examination  of  which  will  shortly  be 
published. 
