-Sim.  Jour.  Pharm.  > 
June  1,  1873.  j" 
Infusion  of  Wild  Cherry  Bark. 
245 
presents  a  larger  surface  of  it  to  the  action  of  the  solvent,  which 
-enables  the  liquid  to  more  thoroughly  and  more  quickly  exhaust  the 
tar  of  all  that  is  soluble  in  it :  whereas,  if  the  mixture  is  simply 
-shaken  the  tar  will  often  remain  in  an  impermeable  mass,  the  interior 
•of  which  is  entirely  inaccessible  to  the  menstruum.  This  same  treat- 
ment could,  I  think,  be  adopted  with  advantage  in  making  the  offici- 
nal "lnfusum  Picis  Liquidae." 
When  prepared  as  above  directed  and  filtered,  this  infusion  is  quite 
31  handsome  preparation,  and  to  those  who  have  not  an  aversion  to 
the  taste  of  tar  it  is  not  an  unpleasant  one. 
Glycerin  being  a  good  solvent  of  the  medicinal  virtues  of  tar,  this 
compound  infusion  possesses  the  properties  of  the  latter  in  a  high 
degree,  and  in  my  opinion  it  is  superior  medicinally  to  the  "  Wine 
of  Tar,"  and  may  be  substituted  for  it  with  advantage  in  almost  all 
pectoral  diseases. 
It  will  be  found  an  excellent  remedy  in  chronic  pectoral  and  bron- 
chial affections,  and  may  often  be  used  also  with  good  effects  in  the 
treatment  of  certain  diseases  of  the  kidneys  and  bladder.  The  phy- 
sician may  at  pleasure  combine  with  it  any  of  the  usual  expecto- 
rant, diuretic,  anodyne  or  diaphoretic  medicines. 
It  may  be  administered  in  the  dose  of  from  one  to  two  table- 
■spoonfuls  every  two  or  three  hours,  as  required. 
This  infusion  is  not  so  liable  to  spoil  as  the  simple  infusion  of 
wild  cherry  bark.  Being  impregnated  with  the  antiseptic  properties 
<of  tar,  it  will  keep  for  a  long  time  unchanged,  if  kept  in  a  cool, 
dark  place. 
In  the  late  revised  edition  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia,  I  observe 
that  the  Committee  of  Revision  have  given  some  attention  to  the 
infusion  of  wild  cherry  bark,  and  have  substituted  a  "  fine  powder" 
for  the  "moderately  coarse"  one  employed  in  the  edition  of  1860. 
This  was  a  judicious  change,  and  I  regret  that  they  did  not  make 
the  same  alteration  in  the  formula  for  the  syrup  of  wild  cherry 
t)ark.  In  fact,  a  "very  fine"  powder  for  that  preparation  would 
not  be  at  all  too  fine ;  while  a  coarser  powder  than  No.  60  will  not 
yield  a  satisfactory  syrup ;  for,  no  matter  how  firmly  packed,  the 
percolation,  when  a  coarser  powder  than  "No.  60"  is  used,  proceeds 
too  rapidly,  and  the  bark  is  in  consequence  but  imperfectly  ex- 
hausted. 
Philadetyhia,  March,  1873. 
