ON  FLUID  EXTRACTS. 
337 
ON  FLUID  EXTRACTS. 
By  E.  H.  Sargent. 
The  great  importance  Yfliich  attaches  to  this  class  of  prepara- 
tions, and  the  near  approach  of  the  revision  of  the  Pharmaco- 
poeia, must  constitute  my  excuse  for  presenting  the  following 
suggestions .: 
Simplicity  is  a  cardinal  virtue,  either  in  or  out  of  a  pharmaco- 
poeia, but  more  especially  in  the  construction  of  formulas  for  the 
use  of  American  apothecaries. 
That  pharmacists  should  prepare  all,  or  nearly  all  the  Galen- 
ical preparations  which  they  are  called  upon  to  dispense,  will 
admit  of  no  doubt ;  it  therefore  is  a  duty  to  simplify  our  pro- 
cesses in  such  a  majiner  that  they  will,  while  meeting  the  re- 
quirements of  medicine,  induce  all  pharmacists  to  manufacture 
these  preparations  for  themselves,  yet  it  is  undeniably  a  fact 
that  only  a  small  minority  do  so,  and  the  reason  may  be  sought 
for  with  some  profit,  if  it,  when  found,  induces  a  change  for  the 
better.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  call  attention  to  the  great 
variety  of  fluid  extracts  offered  for  sale,  nor  to  the  well  known 
dissimilarity  in  the  productions  of  different  manufacturers, 
showing  utter  neglect  of  the  pharmacopoeia  in  nearly  all  cases, 
and  in  some  a  sad  lack  of  the  proper  medicinal  strength,  thereby 
materially  impairing  the  moral  force  of  the  pharmacopoeia,  and, 
what  is  of  greater  importance,  furnishing  inferior  medicine  to 
the  sick.  The  injustice  of  dispensing  inferior  preparations  falls 
chiefly  upon  the  physicians  and  their  pa-tients ;  as  the  physician 
can  determine  the  dose  proper  to  be  administered,  only  from  his 
knowledge  of  the  drug  itself,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  that 
the  preparation  shall  fairly  represent  a  known  quantity  of  the 
drug.  The  quantity  is  immaterial,  so  that  it  is  known,  as  the 
fitness  of  any  preparation  for  a  certain  use  must  be  left  for  the 
physician  to  decide,  from  his  knowledge  of  it ;  and  the  knowl- 
edge must  be  definite  or  he  may  fail,  and  place  in  danger  the 
life  of  his  patient.  The  physician  lacking  this  knowledge  has 
no  method  of  determining  the  character  of  a  preparation  (until 
he  has  seen  its  effect)  except  by  its  physical  properties,  and  all 
must  be  aware  how  little  can  be  known  from  the  taste,  smell,  or 
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