;o  Observations  on  Fluid  Ace  tracts.  {AS?ebraariVT?™* 
gravity.  This  drug  has  for  its  chief  constituents  an  acrid  resin  solu- 
ble in  14  parts  of  alcohol. 
Extract  Coca. — Acetract — Of  brownish,  or  rather  inkish  character 
and  grumous  state.  Its  density  is  due  to  the  large  preponderance 
of  aqueous  menstruum.  A  close  comparison  of  sensible  properties 
is  prevented  by  the  vinegar  which  masks  the  taste.  The  Standard 
Fluid  Ext.  of  Coca  Leaves  is  made  with  75  per  cent,  alcoholic  men- 
struum ;  rich  in  chlorophyll  and  natural  coloring.  The  composi- 
tion is  given  as  residing  in  a  bitter  principle,  resin,  tannin,  an 
aromatic  principle,  chlorophyll  and  the  alkaloid. 
Cascara. — Acetract — Presents  a  good  appearance,  shows  consider- 
able amount  of  coloring  matter,  quite  pronounced  in  taste,  although 
between  the  natural  bitterness  and  the  acetic  menstruum  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  recognize.  Cascara  is  readily  exhausted  with  water  and 
might  furnish  a  good  type  of  admissible  acetracts.  The  Standard 
Fluid  Extract  has  a  more  highly  charged  body  of  vegetable  extrac- 
tive and  is  quite  different  in  appearance,  being  more  like  the  Fluid 
Rhubarb  in  color  and  density. 
Buchu. — Between  these  fluids  there  is  a  most  striking  difference. 
The  acetract  being  a  light  colored  brownish  liquid  with  a  much  min- 
gled odor;  cloudy  but  without  apparent  precipitate.  Standard  Fluid 
Ext.  Buchu  is  very  rich  in  green  coloring  matter ;  clear,  bright  and 
most  pronounced  in  characteristic  odor;  a  markedly  different  liquor 
in  every  way.  The  menstruum  of  the  latter  is  95  per  cent,  alcoholic, 
the  constituents  of  Buchu,  an  oil  and  (stereoptene)  camphor. 
Digitalis. — The  acetic  character  of  this  "  acetract "  would  preclude 
its  use  in  the  present  official  infusion  much  prescribed.  The  odor 
of  the  acetract  is  peculiar  and  does  not  suggest  the  drug  as  does  the 
official  preparation.  The  color  is  dull  brown  and  black,  and  not  the 
bright  transparency  of  the  official. 
Gentian  Comp. — This  is  a  type  of  "  acetract "  which  might  be 
acceptable  save  for  the  acetification  which  can  only  perform  a  sec- 
ondary part  in  its  preparation.  The  general  appetite  does  not  in- 
cline to  acidity  in  taste. 
Ergot. — This  is  a  type  of  the  class  which  might  appropriately  be 
made  as  an  "  acetract "  as  the  drug  yields  all  its  virtue  readily  to 
water,  and  the  acid  addition  is  of  recognized  use  in  permanently  fix- 
ing the  volatile  active  principle  of  the  drug,  but  the  acetract  could 
not  be  used  hypodermically. 
