THE 
AMERICAN  JOURNAL  OF  PHARMACY. 
MAY,    1  867. 
ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  DEODORIZED  TINCTURE  OF 
OPIUM. 
By  Albert  E.  Ebert. 
Among  the  many  new  preparations  incorporated  in  our 
present  codex,  and  exemplifying  the  progress  of  pharmaceutical 
science,  none,  perhaps,  was  greeted  with  more  satisfaction  by 
physician  and  apothecary  than  the  deodorized  tincture  of  opium. 
Combining,  in  a  liquid  form,  all  of  the  narcotic  properties  of  the 
drug,  without  the  noxious,  odorous  and  resinous  principles,  it 
is  capable  of  producing  the  soporific  effects  of  opium  without 
subsequent  prostration  of  the  nervous  system. 
Notwithstanding  the  acknowledged  advantages  of  the  deodor- 
ized tincture,  it  has  not  been  so  generally  used  as  was  expected, 
and  this  fact  may  be  partially  explained,  at  least,  by  consider- 
ations of  cost.  Its  expensiveness  is  due,  in  great  measure,  to 
the  waste  of  the  ether  employed  in  the  process  of  the  deodori- 
zation,  for,  though  the  separated  portion  of  this  liquid  may  be 
rendered  available  for  subsequent  use  by  distillation,  this 
method  of  purification  is  not  practicable  with  the  majority  of 
the  pharmaciens,  and  without  especial  precaution  it  is  attended 
with  a  risk  greater  than  the  value  of  the  ether.  These  facts 
discourage  the  apothecary,  and  tend  to  place  the  preparation  of 
the  tincture  solely  in  the  hands  of  the  wholesale  manufacturer. 
With  the  view  of  regaining  this  ether  without  resort  to  dis- 
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