Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.t 
September,  1899.  / 
British  Pharmaceutical  Conference. 
445 
Liquid  extract  of  ipecacuanha  B.P. 
Distilled  water  
1,000  c.c. 
1,000  c.c. 
Mix,  and  allow  to  stand  in  a  cool  place  for  twenty-four  hours.  Filter  and 
wash  the  residue  on  the  filter  paper  with  a  little  distilled  water  until  colorless, 
keeping  the  washings  separate.  Acidify  the  filtrate  with  acetic  acid,  g.s.,  to  a 
very  faint  acid  reaction.  Distil  by  the  heat  of  a  water-bath  until  the  distillate 
(as  shown  by  volume  and  specific  gravity)  contains  400  c.c.  absolute  alcohol. 
This  will  generally  measure  about  520  c.c.  Reserve  this  portion  of  the  distil- 
late, and  continue  the  distillation  to  recover  remaining  alcohol.  Evaporate 
the  residue  on  the  water-bath  to  about  420  c.c,  allow  to  cool  and  pour  off  the 
bright  liquid  from  any  slight  deposit  of  oily  or  resinous  matter  adherent  to  the 
dish.  Add  this  to  the  reserved  distillate.  Rinse  the  dish  with  the.  washings 
obtained  in  the  first  part  of  the  process,  and  filter,  if  necessary,  and  evaporate 
to  make  the  total  volume  of  the  preparation  equal  to  1,000  c.c.  Similarly  a 
glycerole  of  ipecacuanha  may  be  prepared  as  follows  : 
Liquid  extract  of  ipecacuanha   .  1,000  c.c. 
Distilled  water  1,000  c.c. 
Mix  as  before,  allow  to  stand,  filter  and  wash  the  residue,  evaporating  the 
washings  separately.  Acidify  the  filtrate  with  acetic  acid  to  a  very  faint  acid 
reaction,  distil  off  the  alcohol,  and  evaporate  on  a  water-bath  (adding  the 
evaporated  washings  toward  the  end). 
To    .  500  c.c. 
Add  glycerin  ,  .  500  c.c. 
This  also  forms  a  clear  solution  with  detannated  wine,  syrups  or  aqueous 
liquids.  It  contains  the  B.P,  proportion  of  alkaloid,  and  for  many  obvious 
purposes  furnishes  a  convenient  preparation  of  ipecacuanha. 
An  alternative  process  for  the  direct  preparation  of  miscible  liquid  extract  of 
ipecacuanha  was  also  tried,  and  found  to  work  well.    It  is  as  follows  : 
Ipecacuanha  root  in  No.  120  pcJwder  2,250  gms. 
Calcium  hydroxide  225  gms. 
Alcohol  (90  per  cent.)  a  sufficiency. 
Pack  the  powdered  ipecacuanha  root  lightly  but  uniformly  in  a  conical  perco- 
lator, add  successive  portions  of  400  c.c.  of  the  alcohol  at  intervals  of  twelve 
hours  until  the  liquid  begins  to  drop  from  the  percolator ;  close  the  lower 
orifice,  and  set  aside  for  twenty-four  hours.  Then  percolate  slowly  until  700 
c.c.  have  been  collected.  Continue  the  process  as  detailed  in  the  Pharma- 
copoeia. Recover  the  alcohol  from  the  remaining  percolates,  evaporate  on  a 
water-bath  to  a  soft  extract,  dissolve  in  the  reserved  portion  and  assay  by  B.P. 
method.  Finally  dilute  with  alcohol  (90  per  cent.)  to  a  volume  that  shall  con- 
tain 5  grammes  of  the  alkaloids  in  100  c.c. 
Take  of  liquid  extract  of  ipecacuanha  (5  per  cent.)  ......  900  c.c. 
Distilled  water  100  c.c. 
Mix,  set  aside  for  twenty-four  hours  in  a  cool  place  and  filter.  Wash  the  fil- 
ter with  sufficient  distilled  water  to  produce  2,000  c.c. 
