ON THE METHOD OF DISPLACEMENT. 
193 
the interval this preparation cannot be considered fit for medi- 
cal dispensation, not having imbibed the whole active portion 
of the substance. In the mean time, should any be needed, 
an imperfectly saturated, and therefore unequal preparation 
must be given, or else the demand be refused; for we question 
much if there be a single store in the city, where there are 
two bottles for every tincture, one of which is finished, and 
the other undergoing preparation. 
By using displacement, instead often days, or a fortnight, 
we may have, in as many hours, or less, a clear tincture, replete 
with all the active principles, so that there can be no delay 
either in supplying a large order, or forming some new tinc- 
ture to answer the more immediate call of the physician. 
In compliance with the direction of the Pharmacopoeia, 
when the maceration is complete, the whole is thrown upon a 
paper filter, and left to itself until no more passes through; 
the residuum upon the filter, without more ado, is thrown 
away. Mechanical pressure is seldom resorted to, and no 
attention is paid to the loss, which, in the case of bulky, light, 
or spongy substances, is very considerable, from the quantity 
of menstruum absorbed. Let us take, for instance, the Vinous 
Tincture of Colchicum Root, and we will endeavor to show 
with how much waste the preparation of tinctures is attended. 
Considerations of economy may possibly urge those to a partial 
recourse to the displacement method, who, from mere habit, 
profess an attachment to the ordinary routine. 
The Pharmacopoeia directs half a pound of the bruised mea- 
dow saffron root to a pint of wine, and fourteen days macera- 
tion before filtering. The bruised root introduced into the bottle 
will be found to occupy nearly half its space. The wine next 
added, and the whole shaken up, will make a thick mixture, 
which, after being placed at rest for some time, will present 
to the eye a supernatant liquid, measuring about one-third of 
the quantity of wine employed, while the remainder is sedi- 
ment. At the end of the fourteen days, it will be found, after fil- 
tration, that what was the pint originally, is now represented by 
only one-half, without any advantage in strength; the other half, 
VOL. V. — NO. III. 25 
