8oo 
facturers  that  certain  commercial  varieties  of  vanilla  are  exceed- 
ingly difficult  to  manipulate  and  no  matter  what  process  may  be 
used  in  the  extraction  the  tincture  of  vanilla  produced  is  more  or 
less  cloudy  and  must  be  clarified  by  subsequent  manipulation.  With 
vanilla  of  a  satisfactory  quality,  the  cloudy  menstruum  produced  by 
diluting  the  reserved  filtrate  with  an  equal  volume  of  water  as  di- 
rected in  the  N.  F.  formula,  usually  comes  through  as  a  clear  perco- 
late clarified  in  the  process  of  percolation.  Occasionally,  it  may  be 
necessary  to  return  the  first  portion  of  percolate  until  it  does  come 
through  clear. 
The  criticism  that  the  process  as  given  wastes  a  portion  of  the 
alcohol  is  well  founded,  and  doubtless  every  manufacturer  of  the 
tincture  on  a  sufficient  scale  to  justify  the  expense  will  adopt  appro- 
priate means  to  overcome  this  loss.  The  purpose  of  the  formula  is 
apparently  to  supply  to  the  pharmacist,  or  others  making  the  tinc- 
ture on  a  small  scale  or  in  the  quantity  directed  in  the  Formulary,  a 
method  of  reducing  the  vanilla  to  the  degree  of  fineness  of  powder 
required  by  the  process  of  percolation  directed.  The  powdering  of 
the  vanilla  by  itself,  or  in  the  original  condition  with  the  sugar  di- 
rected, is  impracticable,  hence  the  manipulation  directed.  Even  with 
this  loss  of  alcohol,  the  pharmacist  may  be  compensated  by  saving 
the  manufacturer's  profit  and  by  the  knowledge  that  he  is  dispensing 
a  standard,  reliable  product. 
The  author  of  the  paper  has  overlooked  the  fact  that  both  the 
U.  S.  P.  and  N.  F.  establish  standards  for  products  and  that  each 
contain  special  notices  permitting  manufacturers  of  preparations  on 
the  large  scale  to  deviate  from  the  processes  given  provided  the  fin- 
ished products  conform  to  the  official  standards.  The  special  notice 
on  page  XXXVIII  of  the  N.  F.  Fourth  Edition  is  intended  to  cover 
just  such  a  condition  as  has  occurred  in  the  manufacture  of  tincture 
of  vanilla.  For  the  benefit  of  some  manufacturers  who  may  have 
overlooked  this  paragraph  it  is  reprinted  here : 
"  Directions  for  Mixing  or  Manufacturing. — Under  most  of  the 
formulas  are  directions  for  manipulation  to  obtain  the  desired  prod- 
uct. These  directions  have  been  found  convenient  and  practicable 
for  the  quantities  directed,  and  may  apply  in  case  of  larger  or 
smaller  quantities.  But  such  directions  admit  of  deviations  which 
may  be  more  economical  or  convenient  for  manufacturing,  and 
changes  in  the  methods  are  permissible  provided  the  final  product 
