Tinctura Gambir Composita. U. S. (Br.) Compound Tincture of Gambir. Tr. Gambir; Co. [Compound Tincture of Pale Catechu]
To Replace Tincture Catechu Composita, U. S. 1890, Compound Tincture of Catechu.
Related entries: Gambir
Tincture Catechu, Br.; Tincture of Catechu; Teinture (alcoole) de Cachou, Fr. Cod.; Tinctura Catechu, P. G.; Katechutinktur, G.
"Gambir, in No. 50 powder, fifty grammes [or 1 ounce av., 334 grains]; Saigon Cinnamon, in No. 50 powder, twenty-five grammes [or 386 grains], to make one thousand mils [or 33 fluid-ounces, 6 ½ fluidrachms]. Prepare a Tincture by Type Process M, using diluted alcohol as the solvent." U. S.
"Catechu, in powder, 200 grammes; Cinnamon Bark, bruised, 50 grammes; Alcohol (45 per cent.), 1000 millilitres. Prepare by the maceration, process." Br.
The name of this tincture was changed at the 1880 revision, so that it more accurately indicated its composition than did its former name. In the U. S. P. (8th Rev.) the name was again changed to Tinctura Gambir Composita. This was due to the introduction of gambir in place of catechu (see Gambir). The present tincture is one-half the strength of the U. S. P., 1890, compound tincture of catechu. Cinnamon has been present in the tincture of catechu of former Pharmacopoeias in the same relatively large proportion—2 parts of cinnamon to 3 parts of catechu—and this disproportion has been usually overlooked. The present tincture contains 2 parts of gambir to 1 part of cinnamon. The British tincture (1898) was increased to 20 per cent. in the proportion of catechu, and is now four times the strength of the U. S. tincture. This is a grateful astringent tincture, useful in all cases to which catechu is applicable and in which small quantities of spirit are not objectionable. It may often be advantageously added to cretaceous mixtures in diarrhea. It may be given with sweetened water or some mucilaginous liquid, or in port wine when this is not contra-indicated. It sometimes gelatinizes when kept, and becomes unfit for use.
Dose, of the U. S. tincture of gambir, two to four fluidrachms (7.5-15.0 mils); of the British tincture of catechu, one-half to two fluidrachms (1.8-7.5 mils).
Off. Prep.—Tinctura Pectoralis, N. F.
