12  Preparations  of  Ergot  { ^'"jan"'"i88?'''"* 
or  ergotina  rationaliter  parata.  The  ergot^  according  to  this  process,  is 
extracted  with  benzin  and  alcohol,  and  then  exhausted  with  water,  and 
the  liquid  concentrated  to  one-half  the  bulk  of  the  drug ;  here  the 
similarity  ceases,  as  Hager  employs  sufficient  alcohol  to  make  the  mix- 
ture represent  60  per  cent,  alcohol  by  volume  which  precipitates  the 
gum,  etc.,  but  also  scleromucin  and  renders  it  necessary  to  again  recover 
the  alcohol  by  distillation.  After  this  is  accomplished  the  liquid  is 
transferred  to  a  dialysator  and  dialysed.  This  part  of  the  process  the 
writer  thinks  is  entirely  unnecessary,  and  almost,  if  not  entirely, 
impracticable,  as  decomposition  sets  in  very  rapidly  in  dilute  aqueous 
solution  of  ergot.  The  formula  for  a  preparation  termed  M.  Yvons' 
Solution  of  Ergotin,  appears  in  Lloyd's  Supplement  to  the  American 
Dispensatory.  In  this  process  the  crude  ergot  is  extracted  with  water 
acidulated  with  tartaric  acid,  which  is  irrational.  Moreover,  the  amount 
of  alcohol  used  in  precipitating  the  aqueous  solution  is  too  great  (70 
per  cent.)  being  even  more  than  Hager  employs,  that  all  the  scleromucin 
and  part  of  the  sclerotic  acid  is  in  danger  of  being  thrown  out  of  solu- 
tion. Further,  to  the  finished  preparation  salicylic  acid  is  added  to 
preserve  it  from  change,  which  is  not  desirable.  After  a  series  of 
-experiments  the  writer  has  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  gummy 
matter  is  jDrecipitated  with  25  per  cent,  of  alcohol,  and  as  this  is  all 
that  is  necessary  to  free  the  liquid  from,  the  employment  of  more  spirit 
would  not  be  desirable  in  administration,  or  entail  redistilling,  and 
what  is  of  greater  importance  the  scleromucin,  which  ranks  second  in 
medicinal  vulue  of  all  the  constituents  of  ergot,  would  not  be  repre- 
sented in  the  preparation.  The  previous  exhaustion  of  oil,  and  espe- 
cially the  alcoholic  extractive,  favors  the  easier  precipitation  of  the  inert 
matter  with  a  small  percentage  of  alcohol. 
In  the  commencement  of  this  ])aper  the  different  methods  in  prepar- 
ing ergotin  were  referred  to  as  indicating  the  conflicting  views  Jield 
by  the  various  framers  of  the  processes  for  its  preparation.  The  subject 
had  received  scarcely  any  attention  till  C.  Lewis  DiehPs  article  in  tlie 
American  Journal  of  Pharmacy''  of  Nov.,  1881.  Mr.  Diehl  points 
out  the  indefinite  instructions  in  Bonjean's  original  process,  in  regard 
to  the  amount  of  alcohol  used  in  the  precipitation,  making  also  com- 
parative experiments  with  Carles'  and  the  formula  official  in  the  German 
pharmacopoeia.  The  fact  that  no  difference  in  yield  of  ergotin  resulted 
between  Carles'  and  Bonjean's  method,  in  which  77  and  65  per  cent., 
respectively,  of  alcohol  was  used,  may  be  accounted  for  on  the  theory  that 
