^""ApTms™  }  '  Fluid  Extracts  of  the  New  Pharmacopoeia.  183 
syrup ;  the  two  syrupy  liquids  are  to  be  united  and  evaporated  on  a 
water-bath  to  a  soft  extract,  which  is  to  be  dissolved  in  the  reserved 
portion,  and  enough  diluted  alcohol  added  to  make  the  fluid  extract 
measure  one  hundred  cubic  centimeters. 
The  Philadelphia  College  of  Pharmacy  recommended  the  following 
process :  one  hundred  parts  of  wild  cherry  in  number  forty  powder 
are  to  be  moistened  with  fifty  parts  of  water  and  set  aside  for  twenty- 
four  hours ;  twenty  parts  of  sugar  are  then  to  be  mixed  with  the  damp 
powder,  and  the  whole  packed  in  a  percolator  and  saturated  with  a 
mixture  of  one  part  of  alcohol  and  six  parts  of  water,  and  allowed  to 
macerate  for  forty-eight  hours ;  then  the  percolation  is  allowed  to  pro- 
ceed, adding  the  same  mixture  of  alcoliol  and  water,  until  the  wild 
oherry  is  exhausted.  The  first  eighty  parts  of  the  percolate  are  to  be 
reserved,  ten  parts  of  glycerin  are  to  be  added  to  the  remainder,  which 
is  then  to  be  evaporated  to  a  soft  extract,  this  is  to  be  dissolved  in  the 
reserved  portion,  and  a  sufficient  quantity  of  the  menstruum  added  to 
make  one  hundred  parts.  A  sample  thus  prepared  in  October,  1879, 
•deposited  in  about  four  months  after  it  was  made  a  very  slight  precipi- 
tate, less  than  the  one-eighth  of  an  inch  deep  in  a  four-ounce  bottle  ; 
this  precipitate  has  not  been  increased  perceptibly  up  to  the  present 
time,  the  odor  of  hydrocyanic  acid  has  also  disappeared,  in  other 
respects  the  same  is  in  good  condition,  dark  red  in  color,  and  perfectly 
transparent  in  thin  layers.  This  formula  was  recommended  only  after 
a  great  many  experiments  with  various  proportions  of  alcohol,  water, 
and  glycerin ;  it  has  stood  the  test  of  time  as  well  as  any  formula  for 
this  preparation  can  be  expected  to  do,  a  partially  filled  bottle,  exposed 
on  a  shelf  in  the  store,  and  frequently  opened,  had  not  entirely  lost 
the  hydrocyanic  acid  odor  in  ten  months.  This  odor  will  probably  not 
be  retained  by  any  method  for  a  great  length  of  time ;  any  sample  of 
this  fluid  extract  possessing  it  in  a  marked  degree  more  than  a  year  after 
its  preparation,  might  justly  be  suspected  of  having  had  an  addition  of 
the  oil  of  bitter  almonds.  Recently  two  new  samples  were  made,  one 
by  the  officinal  and  the  other  by  the  Philadelphia  College  formula;  at 
present  they  both  possess  the  hydrocyanic  acid  odor  and  taste  in  a 
marked  degree,  but  the  officinal  has  a  very  large  precipitate,  fully 
three-fourths  of  an  inch  deep  in  a  four-ounce  bottle ;  this  precipitate, 
however,  is  probably  composed  of  inert  substances  chiefly;  the  other 
sample  is  perfectly  clear  and  has  formed  no  precipitate.    The  fluid 
