n8 
Tincture  of  Nux  Vomica. 
/Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      March,  1891. 
and  precision,  and  all  processes  having  these  objects  in  view  deserve 
favorable  consideration. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  of  1880  has  been  severely  criticised  for  giving 
directions  that  the  tincture  should  contain  2  per  cent,  of  dry  extract, 
and  it  has  been  argued  that  this  provision  was  given  as  a  test,  and 
that  any  tincture  which  contained  2  per  cent,  of  dry  extract  of  Nux 
Vomica  was  official  without  regard  to  its  containing  any  of  the 
proper  alkaloids ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  it  was  not  official  if  it  did 
not  contain  2  per  cent,  of  extractive  matter,  regardless  of  its 
alkaloidal  strength. 
The  virtues  of  this  tincture  depend  perhaps  entirely  upon  the 
amount  of  alkaloids  contained  therein,  without  any  reference  what- 
ever to  the  amount  of  extractive  matter ;  and  since  the  Pharma- 
copoeia has  said  nothing  about  these  alkaloids,  it  has  not  set  up  any 
standard  by  which  this  preparation  is  to  be  judged. 
The  Pharmacopoeia  of  1870  directed  the  tincture  to  be  made  by 
percolation,  and  of  the  strength  of  8  troy  ounces  to  two  pints, 
leaving  it  entirely  to  the  skill  and  judgment  of  the  pharmacist  as  to 
whether  his  drug  was  exhausted  or  not.  In  the  Pharmacopoeia  of 
1880,  in  order  to  more  fully  insure  the  exhaustion  of  the  drug,  the 
direction  was  given  that  each  100  parts  of  the  tincture,  when  pre- 
pared according  to  the  formula,  should  contain  2  parts  of  dry 
extract ;  this  direction  was  given  not  as  a  standard  nor  as  a  test  of 
the  strength  of  the  tincture,  but  simply  as  a  guide  to  the  pharma- 
cist, to  show  whether  his  drug  had  been  properly  exhausted.  It 
took  for  granted  that  he  would  use  a  good  quality  of  Nux  Vomica, 
such  an  article  as  would  be  recognized  by  the  Pharmacopoeia ;  and 
if  he  did  so,  and  carefully  followed  the  directions,  he  would  get  a 
good  preparation.  This  was  a  step  in  the  right  direction,  but  it  did 
not  go  far  enough.  The  methods  of  assaying  Nux  Vomica  were 
not  as  well  known  in  1880  as  they  are  at  present,  and  it  is  probable 
that  in  the  next  Pharmacopoeia  an  assayed  or  standardized  prepara- 
tion of  Nux  Vomica  will  be  introduced. 
If  a  weaker  menstruum  than  that  which  is  official  should  be  used, 
the  amount  of  extractive  matter  would  be  larger,  and  consequently 
it  would  contain  a  smaller  percentage  of  alkaloids,  even  supposing 
that  the  whole  of  the  alkaloids  were  extracted,  which  is  not  proba- 
ble. Hence  the  guide  that  the  tincture  should  contain  two  per 
cent,  of  dry  extract  is  not  applicable  to  any  extract  not  prepared 
strictly  according  to  the  Pharmacopoeia. 
