Extractum Taraxaci Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Taraxacum.
Related entry: Taraxacum (U. S. P.)—Taraxacum
SYNONYM: Fluid extract of dandelion.
Preparation.—"Taraxacum, in No. 30 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; diluted alcohol, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Moisten the powder with three hundred cubic centimeters (300 Cc.) [10 fl℥, 69♏︎] of diluted alcohol, and pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator; then add enough diluted alcohol 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 diluted alcohol, until the taraxacum is exhausted. Reserve the first eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of the percolate; distill off the alcohol from the remainder by means of a water-bath, and evaporate the residue to a soft extract; dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough diluted alcohol to make the fluid extract measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]"—(U. S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This is a red-brown, bitterish-sweet liquid. Fluid extract of dandelion may be administered in all cases when the influence of this drug upon the system is desired. The dose is 1 or 2 fluid drachms, 3 times a day. Some practitioners speak very highly of the therapeutical influence of dandelion; others, myself among the number, do not (J. King).
