312 
AMERICAN  EXTRACT  OF  LIQUORICE. 
tions  in  the  cultivation  of  medicinal  plants  and  the  preparation 
of  extracts.  They  find  it  necessary  to  employ  a  good  quality  of 
root  to  get  the  extract  in  its  most  desirable  form,  much  of  it 
being  so  badly  cured  as  to  be  unfitted  for  this  use.  The  drug 
is  coarsely  ground,  subjected  to  the  action  of  condensing  steam 
in  a  large  extracting  vessel,  and  the  concentrated  infusion  thus 
obtained  transferred  to  vacuum  pans  and  rapidly  reduced  to  ex- 
tract without  access  of  air,  and  consequently  without  the  forma- 
tion of  that  large  proportion  of  altered  extractive  matter 
that  is  found  in  even  the  best  Calabria  extract.  Owing  to  the 
same  cause  the  color  is  much  lighter.  They  are  now  making 
about  100  pounds  of  this  liquorice  ball  per  day,  and  expect  the 
current  year  to  consume  about  200,000  lbs.  of  the  dried  root. 
The  extract  is  thrown  into  the  market  in  three  forms :  in  boxes 
of  25  lbs.  weight,  into  which  the  extract  is  run  in  mass  whilst 
in  a  soft  state ;  in  small  rolls,  of  eighty  to  a  pound,  intended  for 
medicinal  use  ;  and  in  the  form  of  lozenges,  put  up  in  boxes  like 
the  Pontefract  liquorice  of  England.  The  last  two  forms  of  the 
extract  contain  a  portion  of  gum  arabic,  to  give  it  firmness,  so 
that  it  will  not  lose  its  shape.  This  has  been  found  absolutely 
necessary  as  a  substitute  for  the  large  quantity  of  insoluble  apo- 
theme  in  the  European  extract,  which  acts  as  a  skeleton  or 
framework  to  retain  the  form  of  the  rolls.  No  other  kind  of 
gummy  matter  is  used  for  this  purpose,  and  its  introduction  in  no 
wise  interferes  with  the  employment  of  the  extract  for  medicinal 
purposes. 
We  have  examined  the  extract  in  mass ;  its  color  is  at  first 
light  brown,  becoming  on  the  exterior,  by  age,  much  darker,  es- 
pecially if  it  has  become  damp.  Although  firm  in  cool  weather, 
it  settles  down  in  the  warm  season,  and  cannot  be  prepared  in 
the  form  of  rolls  for  reasons  before  noticed.  The  specimen  in 
our  possession,  which  is  several  years  old,  has  the  following 
characters  :  It  is  almost  entirely  soluble  in  cold  water,  is  precipi- 
tated by  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  has  a  slight  odor,  analogous  to 
that  of  Calabria  liquorice  when  moistened,  and  a  sweet  peculiar 
taste,  more  like  that  of  liquorice  root  than  the  imported  ex- 
tract. For  medicinal  use,  this  variety  of  "liquorice"  pos- 
sesses advantages  which-should  lead  to  its  employment ;  among 
