292  An  Examination  of  Commercial  Fluid  Extracts.  { Am"/une.' £95™' 
cases  also  to  the  tendency  of  some  manufacturers  to  economize  that 
most  important  menstruum  constituent,  alcohol.  Unfortunately, 
specific  gravity  is  no  criterion  of  the  alcohol  percentage  of  fluid 
extracts. 
It  is  true,  that  an  extract  of  a  high  specific  gravity,  for  which  the 
Pharmacopoeia  directs  a  largely  alcoholic  menstruum,  must  be 
regarded  with  suspicion,  but  it  does  not  furnish  the  means  to  deter- 
mine the  alcohol  percentage  of  the  employed  menstruum  with  any 
degree  of  accuracy. 
While  handling  a  number  of  commercial  fluid  extracts,  the  high 
specific  gravity  of  some,  contrary  to  his  experience  with  the  same 
official  fluid  extracts,  induced  the  writer  to  determine  their  alco- 
hol percentage. 
Taking  the  menstrua  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  as  the  standard 
authority,  with  which  the  manufacturer,  as  well  as  the  pharmscist, 
should  comply,  comparisons  were  made  between  the  alcohol  per- 
centage found  and  that  required.  The  extracts  examined  were 
taken  at  random  from  the  preparations  of  different  firms,  and 
regarded  as  representing  the  respective  average  percentage  of  their 
preparations.    The  following  table  gives  the  results  obtained  : 
Pharmacopceial 
Menstruum  in 
Alcohol  Percentage  Found 
Fluid  Extract. 
Sp.  Gr. 
Alcohol  Per- 
centage by  Vol- 
ume of  Official. 
Weight. 
Volume. 
•885 
Alcohol. 
76 
82 
•956 
56 
64 
•873 
76 
82 
•882 
« < 
73 
80 
1  -0095 
80 
55 
63 
•9255 
80 
61 
69 
1*042 
75 
34 
41 
1  0085 
75- 
43 
51 
•989 
66 
38 
45 
roo8 
<  < 
43 
50 
•9855 
5i 
59 
i-o8o 
60 
26 
3i 
1  -0985 
50 
27 
32 
1-052 
< « 
12 
15 
1  080 
25 
3i 
Stillingia  
•9855 
36 
43 
i' 103 
12 
15 
1 -Q395 
30 
23 
28 
Sarsaparilla  Comp.   .  .  . 
1  -0465 
(« 
6 
7 
1*1296 
25 
17 
21 
Prunus  Virginiana    .  .  . 
1  -1025 
30 
36 
