202 
Standard  Extract  of  Nwx  Vomica. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm, 
\      April,  1884. 
deposits  a  substance  which  is  apparently  a  fatty  acid,  and  consequently 
contains  no  strychnine  or  brucine,  and  by  gently  heating  is  perma- 
nently redissolved.  It  now  remained  to  prepare  the  extract  from  this 
strong  tincture  in  which  the  amount  of  alkaloid  was  known.  After  a 
number  of  preliminary  experiments  it  was  found  that  9  ounces  (fluid) 
of  this  strong  tincture,  containing  10  grains  of  total  alkaloid,  were 
converted  into  an  extract  of  suitable  consistence  by  evaporating  upon 
the  water-bath  until  the  product  weighed  66'6  grains;  that  is,  con- 
tained 15  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloid.  In  order  to  confirm  the  calcu- 
lated alkaloidal  content  of  this  extract  1  gram  was  assaved  and  yielded 
0-151  gram  of  total  alkaloid,  thus  agreeing  admirably  with  the  calcu- 
lated percentage  (15  per  cent.).  We  then  prepared  this  standard 
extract  from  different  specimens  of  mix  vomica,  representing  high 
and  low  percentages  of  total  alkaloid,  and  found  that  in  all  cases  it  was 
feasable  to  prepare  a  product  having  all  the  physical  properties  of  a 
good  extract  and  containing  15  per  cent,  of  total  alkaloid  by  the  direct 
evaporation  of  the  strong  tincture.1  The  following  is  a  description  in 
official  phraseology  of  the  process  which  we  propose  for  the  prepa- 
ration of  a  standard  extract  of  mix  vomica. 
Take  of  - 
Nux  vomica,  in  fine  powder   1  pound. 
Rectified  spirit   64  flu  id  ounces. 
Distilled  water   16  fluidounces. 
Mix  the  spirit  with  the  water  and  make  the  nux  vomica  into  a  paste 
with  one  pint  of  the  mixture.  Allow  this  to  macerate  for  twelve 
hour?,  then  transfer  to  a  percolator  and  add  another  pint  of  the  mix- 
ture. When  this  has  percolated,  pour  on  the  remainder  of  the  diluted 
spirit  in  successive  portions;  press  the  marc,  filter  the  expressed  liquid 
and  add  it  to  the  percolate.  Take  of  this  liquid  one  fluidounce  and 
estimate  the  amount  of  total  alkaloid  in  the  following  way  :  Evaporate 
almost  to  dryness  over  a  water  bath,  dissolve  the  residue  in  two  fluid 
drachms  of  chloroform  and  half  a  fluid  ounce  of  dilute  sulphuric  acid, 
with  an  equal  bulk  of  water,  agitate  and  warm  gently.  When  the 
liquids  have  separated  draw  off  the  chloroform  and  add  to  the  acid 
liquid  excess  of  solution  of  ammonia  and  half  a  fluidounce  of  chloro- 
1  Of  course  such  standard  extracts  prepared  from  seeds  containing'  differ- 
ent percentages  of  alkaloid  will  hot  have  the  same  consistence;  but  this 
variation  in  consistence  is  not  sufficiently  considerable  to  be  of  any  practical 
moment. 
