154 
Syrupus  Althcece. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
April,  1899. 
sumer  is  equal  in  importance  to  its  keeping  qualities  in  the  shop 
bottle  of  the  dispenser. 
On  standing  a  short  time  the  cloudy  syrup  will  be  found  to  con. 
tain  a  mucilaginous  deposit,  which  appears  to  be  the  direct  medium 
of  inducing  fermentation. 
To  insure  greater  stability  of  the  syrup,  the  whole  or  a  part  of 
the  mucilage  must  therefore  be  removed. 
This  would,  however,  involve  the  question  if  the  mucilage  is  of 
such  signal  importance,  that  its  presence  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  therapeutical  value  of  the  syrup. 
Experiments  conducted  by  the  writer  and  extending  over  two 
years,  show  that  a  stable  preparation  can  only  be  produced  by 
removal  of  the  mucilage. 
Addition  of  glycerin  is  practically  valueless  as  long  as  cold  prep- 
aration with  presence  of  the  mucilage  is  directed. 
The  German  Pharmacopoeia,  like  the  U.S.P.,  directs  cold  infusion 
of  the  althaea  in  a  weak  alcoholic  menstruum. 
The  addition  of  alcohol  is  necessary  to  lessen  the  liability  of  fer- 
mentation in  the  infusion  in  warm  weather. 
The  time  of  maceration  should  also  be  increased  from  one  to 
three  hours. 
Up  to  solution  of  the  sugar  in  the  infusion,  the  working  formulas 
of  the  United  States  and  German  Pharmacopoeias  coincide. 
The  former  at  this  point  directs  the  sugar  to  be  dissolved  by  agi- 
tation without  heat,  while  the  latter  directs  the  syrup  to  be  heated 
to  the  boiling-point  with  filtration  of  the  syrup,  thus  removing  a 
part  of  the  mucilaginous  principles. 
That  this  formula  is  not  satisfactory  to  German  pharmacists  is 
demonstrated  by  the  suggestions  for  improvement  occasionally  pub- 
lished. Most  authors  recommend  clarification  of  the  mucilage, 
preparation  of  the  syrup  by  means  of  heat,  and  removal  of  the  scum 
from  the  boiling  syrup. 
Prominent  among  these  modifications  is  a  process  recommended 
by  Gesche,  published  in  the  Proceedings  of  the  A.  Ph.  A.  of  1895. 
This  consists  in  preparing  the  infusion  by  the  cold  process,  and 
evaporating  the  same  to  definite  volume. 
Alcohol  is  now  added  to  precipitate  the  mucilage,  the  mixture 
filtered,  made  up  to  a  certain  volume  with  water,  and  the  sugar  dis- 
solved by  heat. 
