128    PROPOSED  ECONOMY  OF  ALCOHOL  IN  PERCOLATION,  ETC. 
The  drugs  selected  afford  examples  which  embrace  all  the  im- 
portant differences  of  condition  met  with  in  the  Pharmacopoeia ; 
and  those  most  difficult  to  manage  were  preferred.  Thus,  two 
examples  of  seeds  were  selected :  one  wherein  alcohol  is  directed 
as  the  menstruum ;  the  other,  a  mixture  of  alcohol  and  water* 
Two  examples  of  leaves  :  one  requiring  strong  alcohol,  the  other 
diluted  alcohol.  Two  examples  of  roots  :  one  requiring  both 
strong  and  diluted  alcohol,  the  other  diluted  alcohol.  One  ex- 
ample of  bark  was  considered  sufficient,  as  it  is  the  most  difficult 
of  all  to  manage  well. 
» 
The  quantities  used  were  strictly  those  of  the  officinal  formu- 
las ;  and  the  menstrua,  and  management,  and  the  extent  to  which 
the  percolations  were  carried,  were  also  strictly  officinal. 
In  conclusion,  it  may  be  confidently  stated,  that  a  very  great 
and  important  economy  in  the  use  of  alcohol  in  percolation  may 
be  effected  by  changing  the  officinal  formulas  which  apply  to  the 
drags  experimented  upon  for  this  paper.  And  it  may  be  fairly 
inferred,  from  these  experiments,  that  this  economy  might  be 
applied  to  all  other  percolations  of  officinal  drugs.  Should  the 
Committee  on  Revision  of  the  U.  S.  Pharmacopoeia  think  the 
subject  of  sufficient  importance  to  warrant  a  change  in  the  offi- 
cinal standard  before  the  next  decennial  revision  of  1870,  or, 
practically,  say  1872,  we  shall  doubtless  hear  from  that  Commit- 
tee on  the  subject. 
Should  we  not  hear  from  them  in  a  legitimate  and  authori- 
tative way,  the  writer  of  this  paper  earnestly  forbids  the  use  of 
the  results  here  given,  as  indicating  any  short  cut  or  justifiable 
economy  whereby  the  officinal  formulas  are  to  be  evaded  or  sub- 
stituted. There  can  be  but  one  standard,  and  there  can  be  but 
one  kind  of  honesty  to  that  standard,  namely,  faithful  obedience 
and  truthful  accuracy. 
Brooklyn,  September,  1865. 
• 
