130 
ON  LIQUOR  AND  EXTRACTUM  TARAXACI. 
It  is  clear,  therefore,  that  the  extract  is  sometimes  preferred 
for  its  concentration,  and  sometimes  for  avoiding  an  ultimum 
concentration,  and  this  diversity  of  object  leaves  some  margin 
for  the  interpretation  of  the  desideratum  in  extracts, 
It  is,  however,  worthy  of  consideration  whether  some  modifi- 
cation of  the  present  processes  might  not  be  advantageously  sug- 
gested by  keeping  these  objects  in  view.  These  reflections  have 
been  chiefly  occasioned  by  some  experiments  with  taraxacum 
juice.  The  curative  value  of  this  plant  seems  generally  ac- 
cepted, yet  it  is  a  singular  fact  that  we  have  but  one  authorita- 
tive formula  for  its  manipulation,  which  yields  a  very  unsatis- 
factory result  in  the  form  of  extract  of  taraxacum,  which  is  now 
very  rarely  employed  when  the  specific  effects  of  the  plant  are 
desired ;  it  is  chiefly  confined  to  the  office  of  blending  pills,  with 
only  a  secondary  importance  attached  to  its  presence. 
Other  preparations  exist,  so  various  as  to  occasion  great  per- 
plexity to  us,  and  not  unfrequently  to  impress  wandering  cus- 
tomers with  the  suspicion  of  our  inaccuracy,  on  account  of  the 
opposite  appearances  which  one  or  another  will  cause  in  their 
medicines.  They  may,  however,  be  considered  in  two  classes  : — 
the  inspissated  juices,  introduced  by  Mr.  Hooper,  or  the  more 
fluid  liquors,  by  Mr.  Squire.  I  believe  that  grave  objections  ap- 
ply to  each,  which  I  propose  cursorily  to  observe  upon.  The  in- 
spissated juices  contain  an  excessive  proportion  of  inert  quasi- 
starchy  matter.  The  fluid  liquors  are  largely  impregnated  with 
sugar. 
In  common  with  many  others,  I  have  found  great  caprice  in 
the  appearance  of  the  expressed  juice,  and  its  behaviour  during 
inspissation.  Sometimes  it  has  appeared  thick,  and  of  a  pale 
drab  color,  and  on  standing  for  a  short  time  (say  half  an  hour) 
has  become  pulpy.  In  this  condition  it  bears  a  very  small  de- 
gree of  evaporation  before  it  becomes  so  thick  as  to  put  a  period 
to  the  process.  The  result  is  then  of  a  drab  color,  and  agrees 
very  closely  with  Mr.  Hooper's  preparation,  becoming  opales- 
cent, when  diluted  with  water,  resembling,  as  Mr.  Hooper  himself 
states,  the  milky  juice  of  the  root. 
At  other  times  the  juice  is  darker  in  color,  very  much  more 
fluid,  and  nearly  free  from  any  of  the  quasi-starchy  deposit,  It 
