Extractum Conii (U. S. P.)—Extract of Conium.
Related entry: Conium (U. S. P.)—Conium - Extractum Conii Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Conium.
SYNONYMS: Extractum conii alcoholicum, (U. S. P., 1880), Alcoholic extract of hemlock fruit.
Preparation.—"Conium, in No. 40 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; acetic acid, twenty cubic centimeters (20 Cc.) [325♏︎]; diluted alcohol, a sufficient quantity. Mix the acetic acid with nine hundred and eighty cubic centimeters (980 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 166♏︎] of diluted alcohol, and, having moistened the powder with three hundred cubic centimeters (300 Cc.) [10 fl℥, 69♏︎] 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 diluted alcohol, until three thousand cubic centimeters (3000 Cc.) [101 fl℥, 212♏︎] of tincture are obtained, or until the conium is exhausted. Reserve the first nine hundred cubic centimeters (900 Cc.) [30 fl℥, 208♏︎] of the percolate, and evaporate the remainder, in a porcelain capsule, at a temperature not exceeding 60° C. (122° F.), to one hundred cubic centimeters (100 Cc.) [3 fl℥, 183♏︎], mix this with the reserved portion, and evaporate, at or below the above-mentioned temperature, to a pilular consistence"—(U. S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This extract was formerly prepared from the leaves, which gave a variable and uncertain product. As now prepared from the seeds, it is the most variable of the class of extracts. The acetic acid is added to fix the coniine, as it is thought, to retard the changes which the product is liable to from heat and exposure. This extract is narcotic, and may be used in all cases where its peculiar influence is desired. The dose is from 1/8 grain to 1, 2, or 3 grains, 2 or 3 times a day.
