Extractum Cinchonae (U. S. P.)—Extract of Cinchona.

Botanical name: 

Related entry: Cinchona wossname - Extractum Cinchonae Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Cinchona.

SYNONYM: Extract of calisaya bark.

Preparation.—"Cinchona, in No. 60 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. a v., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; alcohol, three thousand cubic centimeters (3000 Cc.) [101 fl℥, 212♏︎]; water, one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]; diluted alcohol, a sufficient quantity. Mix the alcohol and water, and, having moistened the powder with three hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎] 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 then diluted alcohol, until four thousand cubic centimeters (4000 Cc.) [8 O, 7 fl℥, 122♏︎] of the tincture are obtained, or the cinchona is exhausted. Distill off the alcohol from the tincture by means of a water-bath, and evaporate the residue, on a water-bath, to a pilular consistence"—(U. S. P.).

Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—If the directions above given are closely followed, and too great a degree of heat avoided, a representative preparation will result. Extract of cinchona has the bitterness of the bark, a red-brown color, and does not wholly dissolve in water. Its tendency to become tough in time may be prevented by incorporating with it while still warm, 10 per cent of glycerin. Its uses are those of cinchona, and the dose is from 10 to 30 grains.


Extractum Cinchonae Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Cinchona.

SYNONYMS: Fluid extract of yellow cinchona bark, Fluid extract of calisaya bark.

Preparation.—"Cinchona, in No. 60 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; glycerin, two hundred cubic centimeters (200 Cc.) [6 fl℥, 366♏︎]; alcohol, water, each, a sufficient quantity, to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix the glycerin with eight hundred cubic centimeters (800 Cc.) [27 fl℥, 25♏︎] of alcohol. Moisten the powder with three hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎] of the mixture, pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator, and pour on the remainder of the menstruum. 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, and, when the liquid in the percolator has disappeared from the surface, gradually pour on a mixture of alcohol and water, made in the proportion of eight hundred cubic centimeters (800 Cc.) [27 fl℥, 25♏︎] of alcohol to two hundred cubic centimeters (200 Cc.) [6 fl℥, 366♏︎] of water, and continue the percolation until the cinchona is exhausted. Reserve the first seven hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (750 Cc.) [25 fl℥, 173♏︎] 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 same proportions as before, 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 contains all the alkaloidal principles of cinchona, and has a rich deep red-brown color. It is moderately thin and translucent, and possesses the bitterness and astringency of the bark. Its properties are those of cinchona, and it may be used alone or in combination with other agents. Used chiefly as a tonic in doses of ½ to 1 fluid drachm.


King's American Dispensatory, 1898, was written by Harvey Wickes Felter, M.D., and John Uri Lloyd, Phr. M., Ph. D.