Extractum Aconiti Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Aconite.
Related entries: Aconitum (U. S. P.)—Aconite - Extract of Aconite
SYNONYMS: Extractum aroniti racidis fluidum, Fluid extract of aconite root.
Preparation.—"Aconite, in No. 60 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; alcohol, water, each, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix seven hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (750 Cc.) [25 fl℥, 173♏︎] of alcohol with two hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (250 Cc.) [8 fl℥, 218♏︎] of water, and having moistened the powder with four hundred cubic centimeters (400 Cc.) [12 fl℥, 252♏︎] of the mixture, pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator; then add enough menstruum to saturate the powder, and leave a stratum above it. When the liquid begins to drop from the percolator, close the lower orifice, and having closely covered the percolator, macerate for 48 hours. Then allow the percolation to proceed, gradually adding menstruum, using the same proportions of alcohol and water as before, until the aconite is exhausted. Reserve the first nine hundred cubic centimeters (900 Cc.) [30 fl℥, 208♏︎] of the percolate, and evaporate the remainder, in a porcelain capsule, at a temperature not exceeding 50° C. (122° F.), to a soft extract, dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough menstruum to make the fluid extract measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]".—(U. S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Fluid extract of aconite has a vivid red-brown color, and represents in 1 minim about 1 grain of aconite root. It may be used in liniments and other local applications for the relief of rheumatic and neuralgic pains. For other uses, see Aconitum. The dose of fluid extract of aconite is from 1/10 to ½ minim.
