Aqua Hamamelidis.—Hamamelis Water.
Related entry: Hamamelis (U. S. P.)—Hamamelis
SYNONYMS: Distilled hamamelis, Distillate of hamamelis, Distilled witch-hazel, Witchhazel extract.
Preparation.—Take of the green leaves and young twigs of witch-hazel, any convenient amount. Place them in a copper still and cover them with a mixture of alcohol, 1 part, water, 9 parts. Boil by direct fire and recover 2 parts of distillate for each part of leaves employed. For commercial purposes very inferior preparations are made in which the alcohol is decreased, and the distillate increased.
Uses.—(See Hamamelis).
AQUA HAMAMELIDIS SPIRITUOSA (N. F.).—Hamamelis water, Witch-hazel water, Witch-hazel extract. Formulary number, 10. "Hamamelis, shoots and twigs, ten thousand grammes (10,000 Gm.) [22 lbs. av., 393 grs.]; water, twenty thousand cubic centimeters (20,000 Cc.) [5 Cong., 3 fl℥, 30♏︎︎]; alcohol, fifteen hundred cubic centimeters (1500 Cc.) [50 fl℥, 345♏︎︎]. Place the hamamelis in a still, add the water and alcohol, and allow the mixture to macerate during 24 hours. Distill ten thousand cubic centimeters (10,000 Cc.) [2 Cong., 8 fl℥, 102♏︎︎], by applying direct heat, or preferably, by means of steam."
Note.—This preparation should be made only from the fresh young twigs of hamamelis, which are collected for this purpose, preferably when the plant is in flower, in the late autumn of the year"—(Nat. Form.).
