Extractum Sarsaparillae Fluidum Compositum (U. S. P.)—Compound Fluid Extract of Sarsaparilla.
Related entries: Sarsaparilla (U. S. P.)—Sarsaparilla - Mezereum (U. S. P.)—Mezereum - Glycyrrhiza (U. S. P.)—Glycyrrhiza - Sassafras (U. S. P.)—Sassafras
Preparation.—"Sarsaparilla, in No. 30 powder, seven hundred and fifty grammes (750 Gm.) 11 lb. av., 10 ozs., 199 grs.]; glycyrrhiza, in No. 30 powder, one hundred and twenty grammes (120 Gm.) [4 ozs. av., 102 grs.]; sassafras, in No. 30 powder, one hundred grammes (100 Gm.) [3 ozs. av., 231 grs.]; mezereum, in No. 30 powder, thirty grammes (30 Gm.) [1 oz. av., 25 grs.]; glycerin, one hundred cubic centimeters (100 Cc.) [3 fl℥, 183♏︎]; alcohol, water, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix the glycerin with three hundred cubic centimeters (300 Cc.) [10 fl℥, 69♏︎] of alcohol and six hundred cubic centimeters (600 Cc.) [20 fl℥, 138♏︎] of water, and, having moistened the mixed powders with four hundred cubic centimeters (400 Cc.) [13 fl℥, 252♏︎] of the mixture, pack it firmly in a cylindrical 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 afterward a mixture of alcohol and water, made in the proportion of three hundred cubic centimeters (300 Cc.) [10 fl℥, 69♏︎] of alcohol to six hundred cubic centimeters (600 Cc.) [20 fl℥, 138♏︎] of water, until the powder is exhausted. Reserve the first eight hundred cubic centimeters (800 Cc.) [27 fl℥, 259♏︎] of the percolate, and evaporate the remainder to a soft extract; dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough of a mixture of alcohol and water, using the last-named proportions, to make the fluid extract measure one thousand cubic centimeters, (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]"—(U.S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This preparation depends for its virtues chiefly upon the mezereum, and the utility of the latter is even questionable. It is intended to replace the compound decoction of sarsaparilla. Inasmuch as the latter contains guaiacum, an active constituent, in our opinion this compound fluid extract is the less efficient of the two. This fluid extract is reputed alterative, and may be used in scrofula and secondary syphilis. The dose is a fluid drachm, which is equivalent to a drachm of the root, 3 or 4 times a day.
