Syrupus Pruni Virginianae. U. S., Br. Syrup of Wild Cherry. Syr. Prun. Virg.
Related entry: Wild Cherry
Syrup of Virginian Prune, Br. 1898; Sirop d'Ecorce de Cerisiel, Fr.; Wildkirschenrindensirup, G.
"Wild Cherry Bark in No. 20 powder, one hundred and fifty grammes [or 5 ounces av., 127 grains]; Sugar, eight hundred grammes [or 28 ounces av., 96 grains]; Glycerin, fifty mils [or 1 fluidounce, 331 minims]; Water, a sufficient quantity, to make one thousand mils [or 33 fluidounces, 6 ½ fluidrachms]. Mix the glycerin with two hundred mils [or 6 fluid-ounces, 366 minims] of water, moisten the wild cherry bark with one hundred mils [or 3 fluid-ounces, 183 minims] of this mixture, pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator and pour the remaining one hundred and fifty mils [or 5 fluidounces, 35 minims] of the menstruum upon it. When the glycerin-water menstruum has disappeared from the surface of the drug, add sufficient water to saturate the powder and leave a stratum above it. Close the lower orifice, and, having closely covered the percolator, allow the drug to macerate for twenty-four hours. Then allow the percolation to proceed slowly, gradually adding water as a menstruum until the percolate measures five hundred mils [or 16 fluidounces, 436 minims]. Dissolve the sugar in the percolate by agitation without heat, strain and pass enough water through the strainer to make the product measure one thousand mils [or 33 fluidounces, 6 ½ fluidrachms]. Mix thoroughly. Syrup of Wild Cherry may also be made in the following manner: Prepare a percolator in the manner described under Syrupus. Pour the percolate obtained as directed in the preceding formula upon the sugar, return the first portions of the percolate until it runs through clear, and, when all the liquid has passed, follow it with water, until the sugar is all dissolved and the product measures one thousand mils [or 33 fluidounces, 6 ½ fluidrachms]. Mix thoroughly. This Syrup should be stored in non-metallic, tightly-closed containers, in a cool place, as it rapidly loses hydrocyanic acid even under the most favorable conditions." U. S.
"Wild Cherry Bark, in No. 20 powder, 150 grammes; Refined Sugar, in coarse powder, 750 grammes; Glycerin, 65 millilitres; Distilled Water sufficient to produce 1000 millilitres. Moisten the Wild Cherry Bark with Distilled Water; set aside for twenty-four hours in a closed vessel; pack in a percolator; percolate with Distilled Water until four hundred and fifty millilitres have been collected; dissolve the Refined Sugar in the percolated liquid, without heat; add the Glycerin and sufficient Distilled Water to produce the required volume." Br.
The British Pharmacopoeia introduced this syrup into the 1898 edition. The process is modelled after the U. S. formula.
The U. S. process affords a handsome syrup with the virtues of the bark unimpaired by the injurious effects of heat. It is based upon a formula proposed by Procter and Turnpenny in A. J. P., xiv, 27. The introduction of the glycerin into the receiving bottle instead of mixing it with the menstruum was dropped in the process of the U. S. P., which, in our opinion, is a mistake. The glycerin is not needed in the menstruum to increase the astrin-gency of the syrup but it serves a useful purpose in keeping the infusion from decomposing and precipitating a reddish, insoluble substance in the receiving bottle. This syrup should never be made by adding fluidextract to simple syrup, as the fluidextract is likely to vary greatly in quality, and frequently precipitates when mixed with syrup, the syrup when made by the above process is far superior in flavor. It is largely used as a vehicle for cough mixtures.
Dose, one to four fluidrachms (3.75-15.0 mils).
