Am.  Jour.  Pbarm.  ) 
Jan.  1,  1873.  J 
Elixirs. 
1 
even  these  have  no  advantage  over  a  syrup  of  the  citrate  of  iron 
properly  flavored,  and  are  often  not  as  good. 
The  tinctura  cinchonse  comp.,  well  prepared,  with  fresh  orange  peel 
and  combined  with  compound  tincture  of  cardamom  and  syrup  to  meet 
each  individual  case,  is  preferable  to  any  elixir  I  have  ever  seen  for 
general  use.  If  iron  and  quinia  are  desired,  the  citrate  of  the  two 
in  combination  may  be  given  in  pilular  form  or  in  a  finely  flavored 
syrup  combination. 
Bromide  of  potassium  may  be  administered  with  compound  tincture 
of  cardamom,  which  nearly  conceals  its  disagreeable  taste,  and  the 
iodide  of  potassium  given  in  syrup,  compound  tincture  of  cardamom 
and  Curagoa  cordial  can  be  taken  without  difficulty.  The  bitter  taste 
of  quinia  may  also  be  nicely  concealed  by  a  similar  combination,  so 
that  a  grain  may  be  administered  in  dessert-spoonful  doses.  An 
elixir  of  copaiba  containing  half  a  drachm  in  half  an  ounce  of  the 
menstruum,  and  so  covered  with  aromatics  as  to  be  palatable,  would  be 
really  a  pharmaceutical  triumph  I  but  one  which  has  not  yet  been 
gained. 
The  evils  of  the  elixirs  are  recognized,  deplored  and  condemned  by 
the  better  class  of  physicians  and  pharmacists,  and  yet  the  remedy  is 
plain.  Make  them  officinal,  strip  them  of  their  novelty,  and  adopt 
formulas  that  every  retail  druggist  can  follow.  Uniformity  of 
strength,  taste  and  appearance  would  be  established ;  only  one  bottle 
of  each  would  be  required;  physicians  prescriptions  could- always 
(when  they  are  ordered),  be  filled  in  letter  and  spirit,  and  all  the  mist 
and  uncertainty  which  now  envelop  elixirs  would  be  cleared  away, 
and  a  class  of  remedies  well  suited  for  infant  therapeutics  would  be 
at  least  definite  in  their  constituents,  convenient  for  physicians  and 
druggists,  easy  to  administer  and  reliable  in  their  action.  Those  mis- 
erable go-betweens  of  homoeopathy  on  the  one  hand  and  quack  reme- 
dies on  the  other  would  either  cease  to  exist  or  become  patent  medi- 
cines, sold  by  printer's  ink. 
It  has  been  suggested  by  several  pharmacists  that  there  be  a  simple 
elixir,  to  be  used  as  a  menstruum,  wherever  it  is  necessary  to  cover  the 
taste  of  disagreeable  medicines.  Although  several  objections  can  be 
urged  against  any  formula  I  could  offer,  either  of  my  own  emanation 
or  have  seen  offered  by  others,  I  doubt  not  that  pharmaceutical  skill 
oan  supply  this  great  desideratum. 
But  however  much  I  may  condemn  the  wholesale  quackery  into 
