Am  Jour.  Pharm. 
Jan.,  1888. 
Notes  on  Tinctwe  of  Quillaia. 
17 
A  percolate  obtained  by  running  a  quantity  of  water,  equal  to  half 
the  quantity  of  the  original  tincture,  through  the  marc  from  the  B. P.O. 
formula,  gave  nearly  as  good  results  as  No.  3,  showing  that  the  bark 
had  not  been  exhausted  by  any  means ;  a  percolate  obtained  in  the 
same  way  from  the  proof  spirit  tincture  residue  gave  very  little  indi- 
cation of  value.  I  may  say  that  preliminary  mixtures  with  the  water 
were  made  with  spirit  added  to  Nos.  2  and  3  to  make  them  equal  in 
alcoholic  strength  to  No.  1,  in  case  the  spirit  might  affect  the  froth 
test.  It  was  not  found  to  affect  the  results  and  has  not  been  added  to 
the  specimens  shown  to  illustrate  the  comparative  frothing  power.  An 
emulsion  made  with  No.  1  and  a  fixed  oil  separated  more  quickly  than 
one  prepared  with  No.  3.  I  hope,  if  time  will  permit,  to  determine 
more  accurately  the  comparative  values  of  these  tinctures.  However, 
I  have  no  hesitation  in  concluding  from  the  result  of  my  experiments 
that  a  weak  alcohol  is  preferable  to  a  strong  for  making  tincture  of 
quillaia.  In  fact  I  see  no  use  for  any  alcohol  except  for  preservative 
purposes. 
The  question  arises  :  What  should  be  the  strength  of  the  tincture  ? 
Dr.  Muirhead  says  he  gave  5ss  to  5j  of  tincture,  but,  unfortunately, 
he  says  nothing  about  the  strength.  He  mentions,  however,  that  the 
decoction  of  which  he  gave  a  tablespoonful  was  made  with  5  of  bark 
and  200  of  water.  A  tincture  of  equivalent  strength  might  therefore, 
be  made  with  2  ounces  to  a  pint.  To  make  the  tincture  appproximate 
in  strength  to  senega  tincture,  1  ounce  to  the  pint  would  be  more 
than  enough. 
There  is  just  one  point  more  to  which  I  would  allude.  The  B.P.C. 
formulary  does  not  specify  the  part  of  quillaia  bark  to  be  used.  Un- 
doubtedly the  white  portion  of  the  bark  is  the  more  valuable ;  the 
brown  outer  portion  contains  chiefly  coloring  matter.  Both,  how- 
ever, are  used  together,  for  I  have  seen  commercial  specimens  of  tinc- 
ture resembling  in  color  tincture  of  orange  peel.  The  specimens 
shown,  made  from  the  white  portion,  are,  at  most,  pale  straw  color. 
In  making  liquor  picis  carbonis  color  is  of  no  consequence,  and  the 
quantity  of  bark  ordered  is  greatly  in  excess  of  what  the  menstruum 
can  exhaust,  hence,  presumably,  the  want  of  any  specification  on  this 
point. — Phar.  Jour,  and  Trans.,  November  19,  1887,  p.  426. 
