EXTRACTUM
\ˈɛkstɹaktəm], \ˈɛkstɹaktəm], \ˈɛ_k_s_t_ɹ_a_k_t_ə_m]\
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Extract, Ecchyloma, (F.) Extrait, Apostole. Same etymon. An extract is prepared by evaporating vegetable solutions, till a tenacious mass is obtained. When prepared from an infusion or decoction, it is called a watery; from ether, an ethereal; and from alcohol, an alcohol'ic or a spirituous extract. Both kinds contain all the principles of the vegetable that axe soluble in the menstrua with which they are prepared; but the volatile parts are dissipated, and some of the fixed parts are decomposed; the proper extractive is oxygenized, and the virtues of the vegetable substance consequently altered or destroyed. Extracts are hard, soft, or fluid: the consistence of the soft being such as to retain the pilular form without the addition of a powder. A patent was taken out, many years ago, by a Mr. Barry, of London, for preparing them in vacuo; and, as the temperature is much lower than in the ordinary method, the virtues of the plant are loss altered, and the extracts are generally green. Extracts are also preparal by displacement or percolation. They have, likewise, received different names, according to their predominant principle. The gummy or mucous, or mucilaginous, are those which are mainly composed of gum or mucilage. Gum tragacanth may be considered a pure gummy extract. Gelatinus extracts are those composed especially of gelatin; resinous extracts, those of a resinous character; extracto-resinous, those composed of extractive or colouring matter and resin; gun, resinous, those containing gum and resin; and saponaceous or saponaceous saline, those containing a notable quantity of saline substances and a resinous matter, so combined with mucus and other soluble substances, that they cannot be separated. Under the name Fluid Extracts- Extracta Fluida- a class of preparations has been introduced into the United States Pharmacopoeia (1851), the distinctive character of which is, the concentration of the active ingredients of medicinal substances into a small bulk, in the liquid form. Extractum sarsaparilla fluidum is one of these.
By Robley Dunglison
Word of the day
tinctura quininae ammoniata
- A preparation made by dissolving quinin sulphate in alcohol [Br. Ph.].