530  Fluid  Extract  of  Chestnut  Leaves,  {^IVUm^''' 
Dr.A. S.Gerhard,  of  this  city,  at  whose  request  I  have  collected  chest- 
nut leaves  since  1867,  has  used  this  remedy  quite  extensively,  at  first' 
in  the  form  of  infusion,  one-half  to  one  ounce  to  the  pint,  which  was 
freely  administered;  subsequently  I  prepared  a  syrup,  and  a  fluid 
extract,  the  latter  preparation  being  greatly  preferred  by  him  on  ac- 
count of  the  small  dose  required,  which  is  from  a  few  drops  to  a  tea- 
spoonful,  according  to  the  age  of  the  patient  and  the  severity  of  the 
symptoms. 
Obviously  the  time  at  which  the  leaves  are  collected  must  be  of 
considerable  influence  upon  whatever  medicinal  properties  they  may 
possess.  I  have  collected  them  from  the  beginning  of  July,  when  the 
flowers  were  fully  expanded,  until  the  beginning  of  October ;  when 
gathered  late  in  the  fall,  the  green  leaves  only  were  selected.  It  had 
been  my  intention  to  use  the  leaves  from  the  diff'erent  months  sepa- 
rately, with  the  view  of  having  their  relative  efficacy  tested  ;  but  the 
demand  becoming  unexpectedly  large,  the  various  collections  had 
finally  to  be  used  indiscriminately.  However,  as  far  as  the  observa- 
tions could  be  made,  they  appeared  to  be  rather  in  favor  of  the  fall 
collections  made  in  September  and  early  in  October. 
Chestnut  leaves  contain  considerable  tannin  ;  their  taste  is  not  un- 
pleasant, merely  mildly  astringent,  without  any  decided  bitterness.  The 
remedy  is  therefore  readily  taken  by  children,^^whether  in  the  form  of 
sweetened  infusion,  syrup  or  fluid  extract  containing  sugar.  In  pre- 
paring the  fluid  extract,  the  use  of  diluted  alcohol  as  the  exhausting 
menstruum  was  not  attended  with  as  satisfactory  results  as  that  of 
water,  which  was  therefore  employed.  A  purely  saccharine  fluid  ex- 
tract was  of  too  thick  a  consistence,  in  consequence  of  the  large 
amount  of  extractive  matter  dissolved  by  the  water.  After  several 
experiments  a  small  quantity  of  glycerin  was  employed  and  the 
sugar  correspondingly  reduced,  when  a  more  attractive  preparation  of 
the  consistency  of  a  dense  syrup  was  obtained. 
One  difficulty  in  the  management  of  chestnut  leaves  in  the  prepa- 
ration of  fluid  extract  is  their  bulkiness  and  flexibility ;  dried  in  the 
air,  they  cannot  with  any  degree  of  facility,  be  reduced  to  a  powder, 
either  in  the  mortar  or  hand  mill,  so  that  their  exhaustion  cannot  be 
eff'ected  by  percolation.  After  cutting  and  bruising  them,  they  are 
covered  with  hot  water  in  an  enamelled  kettle  and  digested  over 
night,  when  they  are  expressed ;  the  digestion  and  expression  are 
repeated  twice  with  fresh  portions  of  water,  and  the  three  infusions, 
