110    PROPOSED  ECONOMY  OF  ALCOHOL  IN  PERCOLATION,  ETC. 
ago,  and  has  occupied  much  time  and  attention,  in  the  hope  that 
results  might  be  attained  such  as  might  induce  the  Committee  of 
Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  to  meet  and  modify  the  formulas 
which  the  increased  cost  of  alcohol  has  so  seriously  affected. 
These  results,  now  to  be  given,  have  convinced  the  writer,  as  an 
individual  member  of  the  Committee  of  Revision,  that  a  meet- 
ing should  be  called,  and  the  matter  seriously  considered  in  re- 
gard to  this  or  some  better  method  of  remedying  an  evil  which 
could  not  have  been  foreseen. 
The  general  plan  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  for  the  preparation  of 
its  extracts  and  fluid  extracts,  is  to  exhaust  the  drug  perfectly 
with  an  alcoholic  menstruum  by  percolation,  and  then  to  drive 
off  the  menstruum,  in  whole  or  in  part,  by  evaporation. 
The  plan  here  suggested,  as  being  under  present  circum- 
stances an  improvement  upon  this,  is  to  exhaust  the  drug  im- 
perfectly by  the  menstruum,  or  only  to  that  point  at  which  the 
menstruum  is  of  more  value  than  the  resulting  extract  obtained 
by  its  use,  thus  sacrificing  the  cheaper  drug  rather  than  the 
dearer  alcohol.  For  example,  in  making  the  alcoholic  extract 
of  belladonna,  about  75  per  cent,  of  the  total  extract  is  obtained 
by  the  use  of  one-third  of  the  menstruum  directed.  It  follows 
then,  that  two-thirds  of  the  total  menstruum  is  required  to  ob- 
tain the  last  fourth  part  of  the  total  extract,  and  it  is  proposed 
to  save  this  two-thirds  of  the  menstruum  whenever  its  value 
greatly  exceeds  the  value  of  the  product  to  be  obtained  by  its 
use,  and  throw  away  the  drug  instead.  Belladonna  leaves  of 
good  quality  yield  about  one  troyounce  of  solid  alcoholic  ex- 
tract from  eight  troyounces,  by  the  use  of  about  thirty  fluid- 
ounces  of  alcohol.  If  well  managed,  three-fourths  of  this  ex- 
tract is  contained  in  the  first  eight  fluidounces  of  percolate,  and 
this  may  easily  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  ten  fluidounces  of  al- 
cohol, water  being  used  to  push  it  through.  Now,  taking  the 
value  of  the  troyounce  of  finished  extract  at  $1.25  and  the 
thirty  fluidounces  of  alcohol  at  3-5  cents  per  fluidounce,  or  $1*05, 
three-fourths,  or  ninety-four  cents  worth  of  the  extract  is  ob- 
tained by  the  use  of  one-third  or  Jhirty-five  cents  worth  of  the 
alcohol,  whilst  the  last  fourth  or  thirty-one  cents  worth  of  the 
extract  requires  twice  as  much,  or  seventy  cents  worth  of  the 
