14 
Preparations  of  Ergot. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
t      Jan.,  1883. 
cent,  the  sclerotic  acid  was  thrown  down,  but  so  contaminated  with 
resinous  matter  that  subsequent  washing  with  alcohol  failed  to  purify 
it ;  comparative  estimation  of  the  acid  was  therefore  abandoned.  Ergo- 
tin  is  largely  used  in  pills  and  prescribed  in  pretty  large  doses,  it  is 
therefore  desirable  to  have  a  preparation  of  firm  consistence  and  as  con- 
centrated as  practicable.  The  following  formula  is  therefore  proposed 
as  yielding  a  product  possessing  these  advantages.  The  purified  ergot 
as  above  is  exhausted  with  water  as  in  the  preparation  of  fluid  ergot, 
and  the  liquid  evaporated  till  one-half  the  volume  of  the  ergot  used, 
alcohol  is  added  to  twenty-five  per  cent.,  after  standing  filtered  and  the 
filter  washed  with  twenty-five  per  cent,  alcohol.  The  alcohol  is  recov- 
ered and  the  aqueous  solution  evaporated  to  pilular  consistence.  The 
yield  is  about  fifteen  per  cent,  of  the  drug  used.  This  ergotin  will  be 
found  to  keep  well,  it  is  not  very  hygroscopic  and  one  grain  represents 
about  six  grains  of  ergot.  It  can  be  mixed  with  sugar-of-milk  in  vari- 
ous proportions,  when  of  hard  consistence  and  the  desiccation  completed 
until  it  is  sufficiently  brittle  to  be  triturated  to  a  fine  powder.  By 
adding  sufficient  sugar-of-milk  to  replace  the  inert  matter  of  the  drug, 
namely  eighty-five  per  cent.,  saccharated  extract  of  ergot  is  obtained.  It 
was  on  account  of  the  difficulty  experienced  in  preparing  this  in  a  pow- 
dered form,  which  led  the  writer  to  extract  the  fat  primarily  from  the 
drug.  By  adopting  this  procedure  all  impediments  are  removed  to 
obtain  an  extract  in  the  powdered  form  with  even  less  proportion  of 
sugar-of-milk  than  the  above. 
In  conclusion,  the  writer  will  state  that  there  is  no  doubt  that  this 
extraction  of  fat/rom  crude  drugs  with  a  cheap  solvent  like  benzin 
can  be  carried  on  to  a  considerable  extent,  and  the  extract  subsequently 
obtained  can  be  reduced  to,  and  preserve  its  pulverulent  condition  with- 
out difficulty,  rendering  the  admixture  of  absorbent  powders  in  such 
great  and  deceiving  proportions  unnecessary.  But  great  care  should  be 
exercised  that  the  active  principlse  of  the  drug  are  not  also  even  par- 
tially  extracted.  The  extraction  of  fat,  in  nux  vomica,  with  benzin, 
seems,  according  to  some  authorities,  coupled  with  danger  of  dissolving 
some  of  the  alkaloids,  although  the  writer  thinks  this  is  due  more  to  an 
excessive  use  of  the  solvent  employed.  In  order  to  extract  the  fat  from 
a  drug  by  benzin  it  is  not  necessary  to  have  it  in  fine  powder,  nor 
subject  it  to  the  action  of  the  solvent  by  long  maceration,  as  the  fat  is 
rapidly  taken  up.  In  the  main  an  equal  portion,  volume  for  weight, 
of  the  benzin  is  sufficient,  and  this  can  be  lessened  by  increasing  the 
