156  Syrupus  Acacia.  {AmAJp°rUii;a?rm' 
SYRUPUS  ACACIA. 
By  F.  W.  Haussmann, 
Research  Committee  B.,  Pharmacopoeia  Revision. 
This  syrup  possesses  the  disadvantage  common  to  all  prepara- 
tions combining  saccharine  with  mucilaginous  principles,  of  turning 
sour  on  standing. 
Many  pharmacists,  therefore,  prefer  to  prepare  it  extempora- 
neously, and  a  formula,  which  can  be  manipulated  so  as  to  furnish  the 
syrup  in  reasonably  short  time  is  desirable. 
Some  Continental  pharmacopoeias  have  dropped  syrup  of  acacia 
altogether,  leaving  it  to  the  judgment  of  the  dispenser  to  select  the 
method  of  preparation  when  ordered. 
To  American  pharmacists  the  present  official  process  is  unsatis- 
factory. 
Besides  the  time  required  for  the  preparation  of  the  mucilage,  it 
furnishes  the  anomaly  of  preparing  an  unstable  preparation  from 
another  equally  liable  to  decomposition. 
Pharmacists  who  are  compelled  to  keep  the  syrup  on  hand,  prefer 
the  formula  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1 870,  which  consists  in  dis- 
solving the  sugar  in  a  previously  prepared  mucilage  by  means  of 
heat. 
Others  resort  to  the  shortest  of  all  methods,  that  of  rubbing  the 
powdered  gum  with  syrup. 
Due  to  the  avoidance  of  heat,  the  present  official  syrup  possesses 
the  advantage  of  being  transparent. 
No  formula  for  rapid  preparation  can,  however,  be  based  upon  the 
official  process,  as  preparation  of  the  mucilage  requires  too  much 
time  for  practical  purposes.  Syrup  of  acacia  cannot  be  expected  to 
keep  indefinitely. 
A  formula' is  therefore  required  which  does  not  lay  claim  to  sta- 
oility  as  much  as  ready  manipulation. 
The  writer  made  extensive  experiments  with  powdered  acacia, 
with  the  object  of  elaborating,  if  possible,  an  easily  manipulated 
formula.  Objections  to  the  use  of  powdered  gum  are  the  impossi- 
bility of  obtaining  a  clear  preparation  and  the  development  of  a 
disagreeable  musty  odor  on  standing. 
The  latter  was  noticed  in  every  syrup  prepared  from  powdered 
gum,  and  its  use  was  therefore  abandoned. 
Granulated  gum  was  substituted,  with  better  results. 
