Extractum Cypripedii Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Cypripedium.
(Note. The Cypripediums are rare and endangered orchids. Don't use them unless you grow them yourself.)
Related entry: Cypripedium (U. S. P.)—Cypripedium - Extractum Cypripedii.—Extract of Cypripedium.
Preparation.—"Cypripedium, in No. 60 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 and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎] 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 cypripedium is exhausted. Reserve the first eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of the percolate, and evaporate the remainder to a soft extract; dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough 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 deep, reddish-brown fluid fully representing cypripedium. Fluid extract of cypripedium is tonic, nervine, and antispasmodic, and may be beneficially employed in chorea, hysteria, nervous headache, and all cases of nervous irritability and excitability. A few drops of oil of anise may be added to it to improve its flavor. The dose is from 10 to 30 minims 3 times a day.
