6 
Substitute  for  EtJiyl  Alcohol. 
J  Aw.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t    January,  189!). 
made  up  to  500  c.c  ,  25  c.c.  of  36  per  cent,  acetic  acid  added,  and 
the  whole  525  c.c.  used  to  moisten  the  third  and  final  portion  of 
500  grammes  of  U.S. P.  fine  powder.  Then  this  final  third  portion 
was  percolated  exactly  as  was  the  second  portion,  the  fractions  of 
weak  percolate  from  the  second  being  put  upon  the  third,  and  then 
fresh  menstruum  to  exhaustion.  As  the  repercolation  was  not  to  be 
carried  farther  in  this  instance,  there  was  no  present  use  for  the  frac- 
tions of  weak  percolate  coming  from  this  third  portion,  except  to 
show  the  extent  and  rate  of  exhaustion — the  exhaustion  being  found 
to  be  practically,  though  not  quite,  complete  after  the  seventeenth 
fraction,  as  judged  by  the  bitterness  of  the  residue  and  the  assays 
when  the  percolation  was  carried  on  to  the  twentieth  fraction.  The 
first  five  fractions  of  this  third  portion  were  put  together  and  made 
up  to  500  c.c.  as  in  the  other  portions,  and,  by  assay,  this  500  c.c. 
was  found  to  represent  the  500  grammes  of  fine  powder  in  the  pro- 
portions of  cubic  centimetres  for  grammes.  The  second  and  third 
five  fractions  of  this  third  portion  were  made  up  to  500  c.c.  each  and 
were  weighed  and  assayed  for  extracts  and  for  alkaloids;  and,  finally, 
the  seventeenth  fraction  was  also  assayed,  thus  finishing  the  series 
managed  by  the  excellent  process  of  the  U.S.P.  with  the  alcoholic 
menstruum,  and  with  such  results  the  principal  reasons  for  substi- 
tuting acetic  acid  for  alcohol  are  economy  in  cost  and  easier  and 
better  exhaustion. 
The  parallel  repercolations  to  be  compared  with  this  U.S.P.  pro- 
cess as  a  standard,  were  managed  exactly  in  the  same  way,  at  the 
same  time,  with  only  the  difference  that  the  1,500  grammes  of  the 
same  nux  vomica  was  very  coarsely  ground,  and  10  per  cent,  acetic 
acid  was  used  as  a  menstruum  instead  of  the  U.S.P.  alcohol.  The 
very  coarse  grinding  not  only  saves  much  labor,  but  is  essential  to 
the  success  of  the  acid  menstruum,  since  with  a  fine  powder  the 
mass  is  liable  to  form  a  mud-like  mixture  that  is  not  percolable. 
With  this  difference  only,  the  description  of  the  U.S.P.  process  ap- 
plies equally  to  that  with  acetic  acid  menstruum,  and  the  following 
table  gives  the  differences  in  weight  for  each  100  c.c.  fraction,  be- 
tween the  weight  of  100  c.c.  of  menstruum  and  100  c.c.  of  percolate. 
The  weight  of  100  c.c.  of  that  part  of  the  U.S.P.  menstruum  that 
contained  the  acetic  acid  was  8870  grammes.  An  equal  volume 
of  the  alcohol  menstruum  without  acetic  acid  was  88-oo  grammes. 
The  weight  of  100  c.c.  of  the  10  per  cent,  acetic  acid  menstruum 
