Extractum Sumbul Fluidum.—Fluid Extract of Sumbul.
Related entry: Sumbul (U. S. P.)—Sumbul
Preparation.—Take of sumbul root, in moderately fine powder, 16 troy ounces; alcohol, a sufficient quantity. Moisten the powder with 6 fluid ounces of alcohol. Cork tightly in a wide-mouth bottle, and permit the mixture to stand an hour in a warm situation. Then introduce it into a cylindrical percolator, 3 inches in diameter, previously prepared for percolation, according to directions given on page 756, and press very firmly. Cover the surface of the powder with a circular piece of filtering paper, held in position with a few fragments of glass or marble, and add alcohol until the percolate appears at the exit. Then cork the exit tightly; cover the percolator, and place it in a warm situation. After 24 hours, loosen the cork, and permit the percolate to pass as fast as it will drop, without running in a stream, until 4 fluid ounces are obtained. Again close the exit, macerate 24 hours, and, in a manner like unto the preceding, draw 4 fluid ounces of percolate. Repeat the maceration, and, in like manner, draw a third portion of 4 fluid ounces. Reserve and mix the three percolates; then continue the percolation until 8 fluid ounces are obtained. Evaporate this latter portion until reduced to the measure of 2 fluid ounces, and mix with the reserved 12 fluid ounces. The surface of the powder must be constantly covered with alcohol from the commencement, and until the end of the process of percolation.
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—Fluid extract of sumbul has a dark reddish-brown color, a disagreeable and acrid taste, and possesses the musk-like odor of the root, and as thus prepared, represents very nearly the quality of drug employed, troy ounce to each fluid ounce of the finished extract. Water or glycerin are detrimental, inasmuch as either will prevent the solution of the resin of the root, and can not, in return, dissolve a single therapeutical constituent known to us, that is insoluble in alcohol. When the fluid extract is made with mixtures of alcohol and water, it is very much darker in color than when alcohol only is employed, but is inferior as a therapeutical agent. (For uses, see Sumbul). Dose, 10 to 60 minims.
