Vinum Opii (U. S. P.)—Wine of Opium.
Related entries: Opium (U. S. P.)—Opium
SYNONYMS: Laudanum liqidum Sydenhami, Sydenham's laudanum.
Preparation.—"Powdered opium, one hundred grammes (100 Gm.) [3 ozs. av., 231 grs.]; cassia cinnamon, in No. 60 powder, ten grammes (10 Gm.) [154 grs.]; cloves, in No. 30 powder, ten grammes (10 Gm.) [154 grs.]; alcohol, one hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (150 Cc.) [5 fl℥, 35♏︎]; white wine, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix the alcohol with eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of white wine. To the mixed powders add nine hundred cubic centimeters (900 Cc.) [30 fl℥, 208♏︎] of the menstruum, and macerate during 7 days, with occasional agitation. Then transfer the mixture to a filter, and, when the liquid has drained off, gradually pass through the filter, first, the remainder of the menstruum, and afterward enough white wine to make the product measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. If 100 Cc. of wine of opium be assayed by the process given under Tinctura Opii, it should yield from 1.3 to 1.5 Gm. of crystallized morphine"—(U S. P.). This is a pleasant vinous tincture of opium, containing in each 10 minims the activities of 1 grain of opium. With age it deposits insoluble extractive, and sometimes a little narcotine. This preparation is one of the forms of Sydenham's laudanum (Tinctura Opii Crocata, or Saffronized tincture of opium), the true form of which is a vinous tincture, made according to the Parisian Codex, by macerating, for 2 weeks, 2 ounces of opium, 1 ounce of saffron, and 1 drachm, each, of bruised cinnamon and cloves in 1 pint of sherry wine; then filter. A fluid drachm of this laudanum is equivalent to 3 grains of opium.
Action, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This is one of the most eligible of the liquid preparations of opium, having a more agreeable taste and smell, and being much less liable to nauseate than tincture of opium. It is occasionally used in conjunctivitis, to constringe diluted vessels and relieve pain. The dose is from 5 to 16 minims.
