ON  THE  PREPARATION  OF  EXTRACTS.  251 
rials,  to  see  whether  the  same  results  had  been  announced  before, 
I  there  found,  in  the  first  volume,  a  paper  by  Mr.  Squire,  which 
completely  took  from  me  all  claims  to  originality,  so  I  desisted 
from  my  intention. 
The  views  there  expressed  are  so  diametrically  opposed  to 
those  of  the  more  recent  contribution,  that  I  wonder  reference 
was  not  made  by  the  author  of  both,  or  by  the  meeting,  to  the 
fact.  I  quote  the  following  from  page  97,  Vol.  I.  4  Pharmaceu- 
tical Journal  ;' — ''The  different  parts  of  the  plants  which  should 
be  selected,  is  a  subject  of  great  importance.  The  Colle  g 
directs  the  leaves  of  those  which  are  principally  adverted  to, 
and  I  think  very  properly,  I  have  placed  on  the  table  for  com- 
parison, juice  from  the  stalks  of  Hyoscyamus  and  juice  from 
the  leaves  of  Hyoscyamus,  also  two  portions  of  extract  resulting 
from  equal  bulks  of  juice;  the  one  from  the  stalks,  the  other 
from  the  leaves.  The  sensible  properties  of  these  preparations 
will  enable  the  Society  to  distinguish  their  wide  difference." 
The  question,  it  must  be  remembered,  is  not  merely  which 
process  yields  the  better,  but  also  which  the  stronger,  extract ; 
and  whilst  I  am  quite  willing  to  admit  that  the  gummy  and 
saline  extract  of  the  stem  would  greatly  aid  the  keeping  qualities 
of  the  extract  of  the  leaves,  I  must  dissent  from  the  opinion  that 
it  is  stronger,  until  more  conclusive  experiments  have  made  the 
point  certain,  and  indicated  in  each  case  the  limit  within  which 
the  use  of  the  stem  must  be  confined.  To  improve  their  con- 
sistence, and  thereby  aid  their  keeping,  the  addition  of  gum  is 
recommended  by  Gray,  and  I  have  long  suspected  the  use  of 
salt  for  the  same  purpose  by  modern  manufacturers.  The  single 
experiment  on  which  is  founded  a  change  of  opinion  as  to  the 
relative  strength  of  the  two  extracts,  must  in  candor  be  admit- 
ted to  be  a  highly  inconclusive  one.  But  one  species  of  plant 
was  tested,  and  that  gathered  at  an  exceptional  time,  and  in  a 
most  unusual  condition,  as  is  evidenced  by  its  enormous  yield  of 
extract ;  fully  three  times  the  ordinary  yield. 
Again,  knowing  the  extreme  sensibility  of  the  eye  to  the  ac- 
tion of  Belladonna,  we  should  hesitate  to  receive  any  state- 
ment as  to  relative  strength  of  specimens  by  means  of  that  organ, 
before  knowing  the  exact  mode  in  which  the  results  were  obtain- 
ed.   The  best  plan  appears  to  me  to  be  this  : — gradually  dilute 
