Am.  Jour.  Pharm.  \ 
Oct.,  1885.  I 
TiuGture  of  Vanilla. 
501 
of  artificial  vanillin  and  the  decreased  demand  for  pure  vanilla  flavor 
is,  however,  not  the  case.  TJie  probable  reason  is  very  likely  to  be 
found  in  the  new  natural  sources  of  supply  that  have  of  recent  years 
been  developed.  The  fresh  supplies  appear  to  be  so  abundant  and  rich 
that  the  natural  vanillin  obtained  therefrom  has  not  only  crowded  out 
the  synthetic  article,  but  incidentally  reduced  the  cost  to  a  remarkable 
degree. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  has  at  this  late  day  embodied  a  formula  for 
tincture  of  vanilla.  It  bears  a  rather  antique  form,  and  it  is  perfectly 
safe  to  add  that  pharmacists  who  have  occasion  to  prepare  large  quan- 
tities of  the  tincture  will  ignore  the  official  process  in  every  particular. 
In  this  preparation  there  is  no  need  for  the  presence  of  any  sugar 
Avhatever.  Such  an  unusually  strong  alcoholic  menstruum  as  is  offi- 
cially used  is  also  unnecessary,  to  say  nothing  of  the  objectionable  fea- 
tures still  outstanding. 
Macerating  the  sliced  pods  with  diluted  alcohol  constitutes  the  sim- 
plest and  best  process  that  can  be  applied.  Where  much  material  is 
operated  on,  the  extraction  is  preferably  accomplished  by  the  proce- 
dure of  remaceration.  When  tonka  is  conjointly  used  the  operation 
need  not  be  varied,  as  its  relation  to  the  menstruum  is  even  more 
favorable  than  that  of  vanilla.  The  crude  material  may  be  exhausted 
with  diluted  alcohol,  separately  or  coincidently.  Their  combined 
extraction  is,  as  a  rule,  more  convenient. 
A  tincture  containing  one  ounce  of  each  vanilla  and  tonka  in  the 
pint  is  very  satisfactory,  although  half  an  ounce  of  tonka  may  ordina- 
rily suffice. 
Estimating  that  the  yield  of  vanillin  from  vanilla  pod  is  2  per  cent., 
and  that  of  coumarin  from  tonka  bean  the  same,  then  eight  troyounces 
of  each  will  contain,  in  round  numbers,  80  grains  of  the  principles 
respectively ;  it  is,  however,  allowable  that  it  is  much  less  even  from 
apparently  the  best  material.  This  amount  of  pure  principles  costs 
scarcely  half  that  of  an  equivalent  quantity  of  good  crude  substance. 
However,  the  writer  has  for  some  time  past  prepared  a  tincture  from 
pure  crystallized  vanillin  and  coumarin,  containing  three  drachms  of 
the  first  and  one  drachm  of  the  second,  or  half  a  troyounce  of  the  two 
together,  in  the  gallon.  This  is  twice  the  best  possible  yield  of  the 
crude  material,  or  twice  the  ordinary  strength  of  the  tincture.  As  the 
composition  here  is  largely  in  favor  of  vanilla,  the  cost  of  the  result- 
ing product  is  correspondingly  enhanced.    It  is,  however,  barely  more 
