164 
Syrupus  Aurantii. 
/  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
I      April,  1886. 
SYEUPUS  AURANTII. 
By  George  M.  Berixger,  Ph.  G. 
(Read  at  the  Pharmaceutical  Meeting,  March  16th.) 
The  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  directs  that  syrup  of  orange  should  be 
made  from  the  sweet  orange  peel,  using  only  the  outer  layer  (epiderm) 
containing  the  oil  cells,  which  should  be  carefully  grated  or  cut  with 
a  sharp  knife  from  the  inner  white  layer  of  parenchyma.  The  offi- 
cinal formula  directs  that  five  (5)  parts  of  the  epiderm  thus  procured 
should  be  macerated  for  seven  days  with  five  (5)  parts  of  alcohol,  and 
then  express  the  liquid;  the  expressed  liquid  then  to  be  rubbed  up 
with  one  (1)  part  precipitated  phosphate  of  calcium  and  thirty  (30)  parts 
of  water  gradually  added,  and  then  filtered,  adding  enough  water 
through  the  filter  to  make  the  liquid  weigh  forty  (40)  parts,  in  which 
dissolve  sixty  (60)  parts  of  sugar. 
Carefully  following  these  directions  and  using  a  tincture-press,  I 
have  never  been  able  to  procure  more  than  from  one-and-a-half  to  two 
parts  of  liquid  from  the  five  parts  of  alcohol  used,  the  remainder  of 
the  menstruum  being  absorbed  and  retained  by  the  orange  peel.  That 
this  portion  of  one  and  a  half  parts  or  so,  expressed,  should  represent 
all  the  flavoring  or  virtue  of  five  parts  of  orange  peel,  seems,  at  the 
least,  to  be  ridiculous,  and  that  the  portion  from  three  to  three  and 
one-half  parts,  retained,  should  not  be  recovered,  could  certainly  not 
have  been  the  intention  of  the  revisers  of  our  national  standard.  If 
expression  is  the  process  of  extraction  to  be  used,  then  the  peel  should, 
after  the  first  expression,  be  again  macerated  with  3  parts  of  alcohol 
and  a  second  time  expressed. 
Maceration,  followed  by  percolation,  answers  all  the  requirements 
of  the  Pharmacopoeia.  I  would  suggest  the  following  modification  of 
the  officinal  formula: 
Take  of  sweet  orange  peel,  grated  or  cut  from  the  inner  white  layer, 
five  parts  (5);  alcohol,  a  sufficient  quantity;  precipitated  phosphate  of 
calcium,  one  part  (1);  sugar,  sixty  parts  (60);  water,  a  sufficient 
quantity  to  make  one  hundred  parts.  Macerate  the  orange  peel  in 
five  (5)  parts  of  alcohol  for  seven  days,  then  pack  in  a  percolator,  and 
allow  the  percolation  to  proceed  slowly.  Reserve  the  first  two  parts 
that  come  through,  then  add  more  alcohol  and  continue  the  percolation 
till  six  (6)  parts  more  are  obtained.  Evaporate  this,  at  a  temperature 
not  exceeding  120°  F.,  to  three  (3)  parts,  and  add  to  the  reserved  por- 
tion.   Rub  this  up  with  the  precipitated  phosphate  of  calcium  and 
