The coarsely powdered cubebs, being lightly packed in a displacement funnel, I pour upon it as much of a mixture of equal parts of ether and spirit of wine, as it will imbibe, and, having covered closely the top of the apparatus with moistened bladder, and corked the lower aperture, allow it to stand for twenty-four hours. I then uncork it, and after it has ceased {194} dropping, displace the remainder with Sp. Vin. Rect. until the original quantity (generally a pint,) be obtained; this I set aside in an open and shallow vessel to evaporate spontaneously, until all the ether, and most of the spirit has passed off, reducing the quantity to about one half. I then obtain, by displacement with diluted alcohol, another pint of the liquid, exposing it in the same manner, until three-fourths of the quantity is evaporated spontaneously as before; again another pint is obtained by displacement with water, (this will be a proof spirit tincture,) which is added to the former, and allowed to lose by the same means, about one-fourth, or sufficient to leave a resulting quantity of one and a half pints, which will contain about eight ounces of alcohol. The displacement with water is continued to exhaustion, when enough fluid will be obtained to raise the quantity, when added to that already prepared, to two and a half pints, which is transferred to a proper bottle, and there is dissolved in it sixteen ounces of white sugar, yielding, in toto, three pints of fluid extract, equal to one pound of the berries, one f
i of which represents
j of the dry powder. The dregs, when dried, are destitute of sensible properties, appearing to be merely ligneous remains, and the loss in weight, when time is had, may be easily calculated and compared with the recorded analyses. The extract has the appearance of a somewhat thick, brownish colored liquid, possessing the peculiar taste and smell of the cubebs in a remarkable degree, remaining homogeneous for some time after agitation, and showing after settling a large proportion of the oleaginous constituents of the berry. Having aimed more at efficiency than beauty in this preparation, I claim for it the former rather than the latter, and if it should not invite the eye, it will be found very agreeable to the palate. Fluid extract of valerian may be prepared by the same process, and, indeed, all those of a volatile nature, whose active principles are soluble in any of the above menstrua.
UNG. AQUÆ ROSÆ.
UNG. PERUVIAN.
PHARMACEUTICAL ETHICS.
Various are the unworthy practices, one or two of which are thus curtly alluded to, deserving of a more studied notice and severe censure, than I am able or willing to give them. Such matters, though not exactly “putting money in the purse,” should be attended to. The purging of our profession—for it is one—of them, would be a highly meritorious service.