Extractum Pilocarpi Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Pilocarpus.
Related entry: Pilocarpus (U. S. P.)—Pilocarpus
SYNONYM: Fluid extract of jaborandi.
Preparation.—"Pilocarpus, in No. 40 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 pilocarpus is exhausted. Reserve the first eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of the percolate, and evaporate the remainder, at a temperature not exceeding 50° C. (122° F.), to a soft extract; dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough diluted alcohol to make the fluid extract measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]"—(U. S. P.).
In our experience, a preparation to be preferred when its keeping qualities are considered, is made with official alcohol only as the menstruum. We therefore introduce the following process from our Supplement, 1881:
EXTRACTUM PILOCARPI PENNATIFOLII FLUIDUM, Fluid extract of Pilocarpus pennatifolius, Fluid extract of jaborandi.—Take of jaborandi leaves, in very fine powder, 16 troy ounces; of alcohol and acetic acid, each, a sufficient quantity. Moisten the powdered leaves with a mixture of 6 fluid ounces of alcohol and 2 fluid drachms of acetic acid. Cork tightly in a wide-mouth bottle, and permit the mixture to stand an hour in a warm situation. Then introduce it into a cylindrical percolator 3 inches in diameter, previously prepared for percolation, according to directions given on page 756, and press very firmly. Cover the surface of the powder with a circular piece of filtering paper, held in position with a few fragments of glass or marble, and add alcohol until the percolate appears at the exit. Then cork the exit tightly; cover the percolator, and place it in a warm situation. After 24 hours loosen the cork, and permit the percolate to pass as fast as it will drop without running in a stream, until 4 fluid ounces are obtained. Again close the exit, macerate 24 hours, and, in a manner like unto the preceding, draw 4 fluid ounces of percolate. Repeat the maceration, and, in like manner, draw a third portion of 4 fluid ounces. Reserve and mix the three percolates; then continue the percolation until 8 fluid ounces are obtained. Evaporate this latter portion until reduced to the measure of 2 fluid ounces, and mix with the reserved 12 fluid ounces. The surface of the powder must be constantly covered with alcohol from the commencement, and until the end of the process of percolation.
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—(See Pilocarpus). Fluid extract of jaborandi, when prepared with alcohol and acetic acid, is dark-green in color, almost odorless, possesses the taste of the drug, and, as thus prepared, represents very nearly the quality of the drug employed, troy ounce to each fluid ounce of the finished extract. If the fluid extract be made as in the official process, with mixtures of water and alcohol, the dark-colored extractive matters of the leaves are dissolved, and the extract will have a dark reddish-brown color, is more given to precipitation, but will not be as satisfactory as though made with alcohol, either from a pharmaceutical or a therapeutical point of view. The addition of the acetic acid favors the extraction of the pilocarpine, and by using it in connection with alcohol, both the volatile oil and alkaloid of the drug are dissolved. Dose, 1 to 15 minims.
