Extractum Colchici Radicis (U. S. P.)—Extract of Colchicum Root.
Related entry: Colchicum.—Colchicum
SYNONYMS: Extractum colchici aceticum (U.S. P., 1870), Acetic extract of colchicum.
Preparation.—"Colchicum root, in No. 60 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; acetic acid, three hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎]; water, a sufficient quantity. Mix the acetic acid with fifteen hundred cubic centimeters (1500 Cc.) [50 fl℥, 346♏︎] of water, and, having moistened the powder with five hundred cubic centimeters (500 Cc.) [16 fl℥, 435♏︎] of the mixture, pack it moderately in a cylindrical glass 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, first, the remainder of the menstruum, and then water, until the colchicum root is exhausted. Evaporate the percolate in a porcelain vessel, by means of a water-bath, at a temperature not exceeding 80° C. (176° F.), to a pilular consistence"—(U. S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This is a soft extract, bitter to the taste and brown in color. Its solution in water is somewhat turbid. Uses those of colchicum, and employed mostly in pills. Dose, 1/4 to 2 grains.
