ON  SOME  PHARMACEUTICAL  PREPARATIONS. 
307 
The  taste  of  the  decoction,  at  the  time  that  it  was  prepared, 
proved  to  be  quite  palatable,  at  least  to  a  coffee-drinker  ;  the 
bitterness  of  the  salts  was  barely  perceptible ;  and  then  not  un- 
til after  the  liquid  was  swallowed.  Although  the  taste  was 
almost  unobjectionable,  the  odor  of  the  fresh  decoction  too 
much  resembled  that  of  beef's  gall  to  be  agreeable.  But  now, 
at  the  end  of  the  period  named,  that  odor  was  supplanted  by  the 
more  pleasant  aroma  of  cold  coffee  ;  and  there  was  little  or  no 
abatement  in  the  agreeable  taste  of  the  preparation. 
Without  disturbing  the  two  spots  of  mold,  the  bottle  was 
again  corked,  replaced  in  the  same  situation,  and  left  for  forty- 
eight  days  longer.  The  decoction  had  now  been  made  ninety, 
one  days,  and  had  been  exposed  to  a  temperature  of  from  40° 
to  70°  Fah.  The  two  moldy  centres  had  by  this  time  enlarged 
and  coalesced,  so  as  to  occupy  about  one  fifth  the  whole  surface  of 
the  liquid  in  the  bottle.  There  was,  also,  a  curdy  deposit  at 
the  bottom  of  the  vessel  resembling  coagulated  albumen.  The 
decoction  itself  was  dark  as  usual,  and  perfectly  clear.  The 
odor  of  coffee  was  nearly  gone.  The  flavor  of  cold  coffee  was 
yet  apparent  enough  almost  entirely  to  conceal  the  bitterness  of 
the  sulphate. 
The  whole  liquid  was  now  passed  through  Swedish  filtering 
paper,  the  bottle  well  washed,  and  the  filtrate  replaced  in  it. 
After  twelve  days  repose  in  the  same  situation,  a  spot  of  mold 
was  again  formed  on  the  liquid ;  the  lower  end  of  the  cork  was 
covered  with  it,  and  the  air  in  the  bottle  had  a  musty  odor, 
mingled  with  that  of  coffee.  There  was  also  a  fresh  deposit 
resembling  very  fine  «  coffee  grounds."  The  mold  continued  to 
spread  for  eight  or  ten  days  more,  when  I  discontinued  the  ex- 
periment. 
It  does  not  appear  from  my  use  of  this  preparation  in  medi- 
cal practice  that  the  salts  lose  any  of  their  cathartic  power  by 
the  presence  of  the  decoction  of  coffee. 
Richmond,  Indiana^  5th  mo.  [May,]  1855, 
