18 '2  Fluid  Extrads  of  the  New  Pharmacopceia.  {"^"ipHi'-iss:!™" 
a  sample  thus  prepared  in  December,  1879,  now  contains  only  a  slight 
precipitate  and  a  very  thin  coating  on  the  sides  of  tlie  bottle;  the  fluid 
extract  is  perfectly  transparent  and  of  a  deep  red  color  in  thin  layers ; 
another  sample  recently  made  with  the  officinal  menstruum  has  also  a 
deposit  about  equal  in  amount  to  that  of  the  first  sample,  but  it  is  of  a 
much  darker  color ;  this  fluid  extract  is  also  darker  than  the  older 
sample,  but  this  may  be  owing  to  the  larger  proportion  of  brown 
leaves  found  in  Jaborandi  of  late.  While  the  officinal  menstruum 
produces  an  excellent  preparation,  the  weaker  menstruum  recommended 
by  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  is  evidently  just  as  good  for 
the  extraction  of  the  drug  and  preservation  of  the  product. 
ExTRACTUM  PoDOPHYLLi  Fluidum. — Fluid  Extract  of  Podo- 
phyllum.—This  is  also  a  new  officinal  preparation.  The  Pharmacopoeia 
directs  a  menstruum  composed  of  three  parts  of  alcohol  and  one  part  of 
water ;  the  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  recommended  alcohol ; 
a  sample  thus  prepared  in  November,  1879,  contains  now  only  a  very 
minute  precipitate,  and  the  fluid  extract  is  of  a  bright  red  color, 
brilliantly  transparent ;  a  second  sample,  prepared  at  the  same  time, 
with  the  now  officinal  menstruum,  contains  a  little  larger,  but  still  a 
very  small  precipitate,  this  fluid  extract  is  very  dark,  but  perfectly 
transparent,  and  of  a  deep  red  color  in  thin  layers.  It  is  evident,  that 
either  of  these  menstruums  will  yield  an  excellent  preparation,  and 
although  alcohol  may  be  the  more  scientific,  the  preference  seems  to  be 
due  to  the  weaker  officinal  menstruum. 
ExTRACTUM  Pruni  Virginian^  Fluidum. — Fluid  Extract  of 
Wild  Cherry. — For  this  preparation  the  Pharmacopoeia  of  1870 
directed  a  menstruum  composed  of  four  fluidounces  of  glycerin,  and 
eight  fluidounces  of  water,  finishing  the  percolation  with  stronger 
alcohol.  The  present  Pharmacopoeia  directs  one  hundred  grammes  of 
wild  cherry  in  number  twenty  powder  to  be  moistened  with  fifty 
grammes  of  a  mixture  of  two  parts  of  water  and  one  part  of  glycerin, 
and  then  set  aside  for  forty-eight  hours ;  the  damp  powder  is  then  to 
be  packed  in  the  percolator,  saturated  with  diluted  alcohol,  and  again 
macerated  for  forty-eight  hours ;  then  the  percolation  is  allowed  to  pro- 
ceed, adding  diluted  alcohol,  until  the  wild  cherry  is  exhausted;  the 
first  eighty  cubic  centimeters  of  the  percolate  are  reserved,  the  next 
one  hundred  and  twenty  cubic  centimeters  are  to  be  evaporated  to  a 
thin  syrup,  the  alcohol  is  to  be  distilled  from  the  remainder  of  the 
percolate,  and  the  residue  of  this  is  also  to  be  evaporated  to  a  thin 
