Vinum Colchici Seminis (U. S. P.)—Wine of Colchicum Seed.
Related entry: Colchicum.—Colchicum
Preparation.—Colchicum seed, in No. 30 powder, one hundred and fifty grammes (150 Gm.) [5 ozs. av., 127 grs.]; alcohol, one hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (150 Cc.) [5 fl℥, 35♏︎]; white wine, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix the alcohol with eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of white wine. Macerate the powder with nine hundred cubic centimeters (900 Cc.) [30 fl℥, 208♏︎] of the mixture during 7 days, in a closed vessel, with occasional agitation. Then filter through paper, adding, through the filter, first, the remainder of the menstruum, and afterward enough white wine to make the product measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]"—(U. S. P.).
It is very necessary that the seeds be ground fine in order that the colchicine may be more thoroughly exhausted, or after having macerated the seeds in the wine a few days they may be taken out and crushed while wet (Maisch). This is the preparation usually called in this country Wine of Colchicum.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Colchicum seed are not so apt to deteriorate as the bulb, and preserve their activity unchanged for a much longer period; consequently they do not require to be used so largely, in proportion to their menstruum, as the bulb. This medicated wine may be employed for the same purposes as the wine of the bulb or the tincture of the seed. In overdoses it is capable of producing death. The dose varies from ½ to 1 fluid drachm. The seeds should always be bruised to obtain their full medicinal activity
