Tinctura Lavandulae Composita (U. S. P.)—Compound Tincture of Lavender.
Related entry: Lavandula.—Lavandula
SYNONYMS: Compound spirit of lavender, Spiritus lavandulae compositus, Lavender drops.
Preparation.—"Oil of lavender flowers, eight cubic centimeters (8 Cc.) [130♏︎]; oil of rosemary, two cubic centimeters (2 Cc.) [32♏︎]; cassia cinnamon, in coarse powder, twenty grammes (20 Gm.) [309 grs.]; cloves, five grammes (5 Gm.) [77 grs.]; nutmeg, ten grammes (10 Gm.) [154 grs.]; red saunders, in coarse powder, ten grammes (10 Gm.) [154 grs.]; alcohol, seven hundred cubic centimeters (700 Cc.) [23 fl℥, 321♏︎]; water, two hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (250 Cc.) [8 fl℥, 218♏︎]; diluted alcohol, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Dissolve the oils in the alcohol, and add the water. Crush the nutmeg in a mortar, mix it with the cinnamon, cloves, and red saunders, and reduce the mixture, by grinding, to a coarse (No. 20) powder. Moisten the mixture with a sufficient quantity of the alcoholic solution of the oils, pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator, gradually pour upon it the remainder of the alcoholic solution, and, afterward, diluted alcohol, until one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎] of tincture are obtained"—(U. S. P.). This forms a red tincture of agreeable odor and taste; the addition of water renders it turbid.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This forms a delightful preparation, which is much employed as a remedy for flatulence, hysteria, gastric uneasiness, nausea, and general languor, or faintness. It is also used as an adjuvant and corrigent of other medicines. The dose is from 30 drops to 1 or 2 fluid drachms, given in sweetened water, or on sugar (J. King).
