54 
A  Defence  of  Elixirs,  etc. 
f  Am.  Jo€r.  Pharjkl 
I     Feb.  1,  1873. 
But  take  the  argument  in  the  abstract,  What  is  an  elixir  ?  As  X 
take  it  to  be,  a  medicinal  elixir  is  a  preparation  in  which  a  crude  ma- 
terial, by  an  admixture  with  aromatics,  and  by  a  sufficient  maceration 
with  a  spirit  of  stronger  absorbent  powers  than  itself,  together  with 
the  addition  of  syrup,  is  deprived  of  certain  disagreeable  qualities, 
and  rendered  more  palatable  and  less  nauseating. 
The  argument,  as  far  as  it  relates  to  the  retail  druggist,  seems  to 
me  a  weak  one ;  for,  if  he  understands  his  business,  he  can  make  his 
own  formulas,  and  if  he  does  not  know  enough  for  this,  he  should  try 
some  other  way  of  making  his  bread  and  butter. 
As  regards  a  universal  menstruum  for  elixirs,  I  would  respectfully 
ask,  how  is  this  to  be  done  ?  You  cannot  treat  pepsin  with  the  same 
adjuvant  you  can  cinchona,  nor  can  you  make  a  clear  elixir  of  cin- 
chona with  the  same  constituents  you  can  pyrophosphate  of  iron.  So 
how  can  a  universal  formula  be  practicable  to  use  for  any  elixir  ? 
These  elixirs  are  objected  to  on  account  of  their  novelty,  and  be- 
sides their  secrecy.  Now,  I  would  ask,  what  novelty  there  can  be,  or 
what  objection  can  be  fairly  made,  when  a  pharmacist,  or  druggist,  or 
chemist,  or  anything  else  you  wish  to  call  him,  says  practically  to  a 
physician,  "  Doctor,  here  is  a  pleasant  preparation  of  iron — I  call  it 
the  Elixir  of  Pyrophosphate  of  Iron ;  each  tablespoonful  contains 
five  grains  of  the  iron;"  or,  "Here  is  an  elixir,  where  each  table- 
spoonful  contains  three  grains  of  pepsin,  two  grains  of  bismuth, 
and  one-fourth  of  a  grain  of  solid  extract  of  nux  vomica,  in  com- 
bination "  ? 
If  the  word  of  this  manufacturer  is  to  be  depended  on,  the  physi- 
cian should  be  satisfied  as  to  the  proportions ;  if  not,  then  there  is  no 
telling  whether  his  subnitrate  of  bismuth  is  pure,  whether  his  quinia 
is  not  heavily  adulterated  with  cinchonia  in  some  form,  or  whether  his 
tannin  is  not  some  miserable  compound,  the  result  of  forty  acres  of 
woodland,  razed  promiscuously. 
The  elixir,  as  a  pharmaceutical  preparation,  I  claim  is  at  once  sim- 
ple, and  advantageous  to  all  concerned.  Its  label  tells  what  it  is,  of 
what  drugs  compounded,  and  in  what  proportions. 
But  here  is  another  argument.  Do  not  these  elixirs  reach  cases 
that  the  drugs  themselves  will  not  ?  Take,  for  instance,  an  elixir  of 
quinia  and  taraxacum,  made  witb  French  brandy,  simple  syrup,  cinna- 
mon water,  coriander,  caraway,  aniseed,  orange  wine,  ground  orange- 
peel,  Powers  &  Weightman's  sulphate  of  quinia,  and  Parke  Davis  k 
