3I2 
Syrups. 
Am.  Jour.  Phanri. 
July,  1909. 
this  method  will  not  protect  them  in  the  numerous  sales  in  broken 
packages  which  they  make,  and  must  prepare  themselves  to  assume 
the  full  measure  of  responsibility  -  ,,  1  v  the  laws.  The  Phar- 
macopoeia and  National  Formulary  should  give  particular  attention 
in  the  formulas  to  their  needs  and  legal  responsibility. 
Third,  to  determine  if  the  use  of  fluidextracts  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  syrups  cannot  be  eliminated.  The  use  of  fluidextracts  intro- 
duces into  these  two  sources  of  annoyance  and  imperfection.  The 
alcoholic  menstruum  extracts  from  the  drugs  certain  resinous  or 
extractive  matters  which  sooner  or  later  form  some  deposit  in  the 
syrups,  and  the  small  amount  of  alcohol  usually  introduced  by  their 
use  only  serves  to  encourage  fermentation. 
Fourth,  experiments  upon  the  extraction  of  numerous  drugs 
with  glycerin-water  menstruums  in  the  course  of  experiments  upon 
the  fluidglycerates  1  proved  that  many  drugs  can  be  so  extracted 
without  the  use  of  any  alcohol,  and  we  wished  to  determine  how  far 
this  method  could  be  made  available  in  the  preparation  of  syrups. 
Glycerin  has  an  inhibitive  action  upon  several  forms  of  decomposi- 
tion that  syrups  are  prone  to  undergo ;  this  has  already  been  taken 
advantage  of  to  a  moderate  extent  in  our  own  Pharmacopoeia  which 
directs  its  use  in  several  syrups,  and  the  recent  revision  of  the 
Pharmacopoeia  Helvetica,  1907,  extends  the  idea  and  directs  it  in 
the  following  syrups :  adianti,  menthae,  picis  cum  codeino,  ratanhise, 
sarsaparilla  compositus,  turionis  pini,  and  senegae.  In  the  senega 
formula  this  Pharmacopoeia,  by  a  roundabout  process,  actually  pre- 
pares the  fluidglycerate  of  senega  which  is  then  diluted  10  parts  to 
90  of  syrup.  Attention  was  called  to  the  preservative  value  of 
glycerin  in  solution  and  syrup  of  ferrous  iodide  forty  years  ago 
in  a  note  by  R.  Lewellen.2 
A  number  of  manufacturers  learned  that  it  appeared  to  prevent 
the  caramelization  as  well  as  other  chemical  changes  in  such  syrups 
as  syrup  of  hydriodic  acid  and  hypophosphites,  and  they  have  been 
taking  advantage  of  this  and  have  increased  the  stability  of  their 
products  by  displacing  part  of  the  sugar  wTith  ^  un.  Our  ex- 
periments demonstrate  to  our  satisfaction  that  the  addition  of  even 
50  c.c.  of  glycerin  to  a  litre  of  syrup  of  hypophosphites  or  compound 
1  Proceedings  Amer.  Ph.  Assn.,  981.    Amer.  Journal  Pharmacv  1908, 
525- 
2  Amer.  Journal  Pharmacy,  1868,  108. 
