268 
Syrup  of  Wild  Cherry. 
Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
June,  1906. 
Pharmaceutical  Meeting  of  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  held 
February  14,  1842  {American  Journal  of  Pharmacy ;  1843,  27). 
Procter  and  Turnpenny's  formula  consisted,  briefly,  in  macerating 
and  percolating,  under  proper  conditions,  5  troy  ounces  of  coarsely 
ground  bark  with  sufficient  water  to  measure  one  pint,  and  dissolv- 
ing, by  agitation,  24  troy  ounces  of  sugar  in  the  percolate. 
In  the  U.S.P.  of  i860  and  of  1870,  the  same  formula  was  followed 
as  in  1850,  with  the  exception  that  the  sugar  was  increased  to  28 
troy  ounces.  (For  the  purpose  of  comparison,  the  formulas  herein- 
after stated  are  given  in  the  usual  weights  and  measures,  and  not  in 
the  official  system.) 
In  the  U.S.P.  of  1880,  the  powdered  bark  (5^  avoirdupois  ounces) 
was  macerated  and  percolated  with  sufficient  water  to  make  15  fluid- 
ounces  of  percolate,  to  which  was  added  28  avoirdupois  ounces  of 
sugar  and  2  fluidounces  of  glycerin. 
In  the  U.S.P.  of  1890,  further  changes  were  made.  The  powdered 
bark  (reduced  in  quantity  to  5  avoirdupois  ounces)  was  macerated 
and  percolated  with  43^  fluidounces  of  glycerin  and  sufficient  water 
to  make  the  percolate  measure,  practically,  14  (exactly  13  8)  fluid- 
ounces,  after  which  the  sugar  (reduced  in  quantity  to  231^  avoirdu- 
pois ounces)  was  dissolved  by  agitation,  and  sufficient  water  added 
to  make  the  finished  product  measure  2  pints.  This  process  yielded 
a  beautiful  ruby.red  syrup  that  was  slightly  astringent  in  taste,  and 
was  permanent.  The  use  of  glycerin  for  the  purpose  of  preventing 
fermentation  in  the  drug  during  the  process  of  percolation,  was  first 
proposed  by  C.  Schnabel  (1874),  a  purpose  it  admirably  serves, 
especially  during  the  summer  season. 
In  the  present  U.S.P.  (1900)  formula,  the  quantities  of  ingredients 
remain  practically  the  same,  but  in  procedure  two  radical  changes 
have  been  made:  No  glycerin  is  used  in  the  menstruum,  and  the 
quantity  of  aqueous  percolate  has  been  reduced  to  practically  gy2 
(exactly  9  6)  fluidounces,  instead  of  the  14,  15  or  16  fluidounces 
formerly  directed. 
It  is  obvious,  if  only  two-thirds  of  the  former  quantity  of  men- 
struum is  used,  that  the  finished  product  will  be  considerably  weaker 
in  content  of  active  ingredients,  assuming  that  the  larger  quantity  of 
menstruum  exhausts  a  larger  quantity  of  the  bark  ;  and  that  such 
is  the  case,  is  proven  by  the  fact  that  the  quantity  of  bark  specified 
in  the  formula  is  decidedly  in  excess  of  the  quantity  required  to 
