Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
Sept.,  1884.  J 
Sydenham's  Laudanum. 
473 
OBSERVATIONS  ON  SYDENHAM'S  LAUDANUM. 
By  Eg.  Daenen,  Pharmacien  in  Brussels. 
Reprint,  communicated  by  the  Author. 
The  results  of  my  observations  on  Sydenham's  laudanum,  published 
in  1872  in  the  "  Jour,  de  Phar.  d'Anvers.,"  showed,  1,  that  the  tannin 
of  the  cinnamon  and  cloves  precipitates  a  portion  of  the  opium  alka- 
loids; 2,  that  Chinese  cinnamon  and  cassia  lignea  are  richer  in  tannin 
than  Ceylon  cinnamon;  3,  that  if  cinnamon  be  used  for  this  laudanum, 
Ceylon  cinnamon  should  be  carefully  selected;  4,  that  in  replacing  the 
cinnamon  and  cloves  by  their  volatile  oils,  the  laudanum  thus  prepared 
has  all  the  essential  properties  of  that  medicine  without  the  inconve- 
niencies  produced  by  the  ingredients  named ;  5,  that  the  employment 
of  assayed  opium  or  extract  of  opium  is  indispensable  in  order  to  have 
in  all  pharmacies  the  preparation  of  as  nearly  uniform  strength  as 
possible. 
The  observations  reported  in  the  present  paper  give  further  confirma- 
tion to  the  above  conclusions,  and  moreover  demonstrate  that  time  and 
light  do  not  exert  the  destructive  action  upon  the  product  prepared 
with  the  volatile  oils,  that  it  does  upon  the  officinal  laudanum  (Vinum 
Opii). 
Eour  vials  were  filled  with  1,  Sydenham's  laudanum  prepared 
according  to  the  (Belgian)  pharmacopoeia;  2,  the  same,  prepared  with 
Chinese,  in  the  place  of  Ceylon  cinnamon ;  3,  the  same,  prepared  with 
the  oils  of  cinnamon  and  cloves ;  and  4,  with  Malaga  wine.  These 
vials  were  sealed  by  Professor  Gille  and  after  more  than  four  years  were 
reexamined  with  the  following  results:  No.  1  was  of  a  dingy  brown 
and  contained  much  precipitate ;  No.  2  was  more  of  gray  color  and  a 
larger  amount  of  precipitate;  No.  3  had  retained  its  original  color  and 
contained  only  a  slight  precipitate;  No.  4  had  also  preserved  its  color 
and  contained  a  precipitate  similar  to  that  in  No.  3. 
The  importance  of  the  subject  justifies  a  repetition  in  stating  that  a 
wine  of  cinnamon  or  of  cloves,  on  being  added  to  a  vinous  tincture  of 
opium  or  of  extract  of  opium  produces  at  once  a  turbidity  and  abun- 
dant precipitate,  and  filtration  does  not  completely  prevent  the  reap- 
pearance of  a  precipitate;  Sydenham's  laudanum  shows  a  similar 
behavior.  But  a  wine  of  saffron  or  vinous  solutions  of  oil  of  cinnamon 
or  of  cloves,  added  to  a  vinous  solution  of  opium  or  of  extract  of  opium. 
