Syrupus Asari Compositus (N. F.)—Compound Syrup of Asarum.
Related entry: Asarum.—Wild Ginger
SYNONYM: Compound syrup of Canada snakeroot.
Preparation.—"Asarum root, in moderately coarse (No. 40). powder, sixty grammes (60 Gm.) [2 ozs. av., 51 grs.]; alcohol, one hundred and eighty-five cubic centimeters (185 Cc.) [6 fl℥, 123♏︎]; cochineal, in fine powder, one and one-half grammes (1.5 Gm.) [23 grs.]; potassium carbonate, two and one-half grammes (2.5 Gm.) [39 grs.]; wine of ipecac (U. S. P.) thirty cubic centimeters (30 Cc.) [1 fl℥, 7♏︎]; sugar, seven hundred grammes (700 Gm.) [1 lb. av., 8 ozs., 303 grs.]; water, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix the asarum intimately with the cochineal and potassium carbonate, previously triturated together. Moisten the powder with a sufficient quantity of a menstruum prepared by mixing the alcohol with three hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎] of water, and allow it to macerate in a covered vessel for 24 hours. Then transfer it to a small percolator, and pour on the remainder of the menstruum. Allow the percolation to proceed slowly, and then follow up the menstruum by water, until five hundred cubic centimeters (500 Cc.) [16 fl℥, 435♏︎] of percolate are obtained. To this add the wine of ipecac, and afterward the sugar, and dissolve the latter by agitation. Finally, add enough water, previously passed through the percolator, to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Each fluid drachm represents about 3 ½ grains of asarum"—(Nat. Form.).
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This agent combines the expectorant qualities of asarum and ipecacuanha. The dose is about 1 fluid drachm.
