Fluidextractum Spigelia. U. S. Fluidextract of Spigelia.

Botanical name: 

Fldext. Spigel. [Fluidextract of Pink Root]

Related entries: Spigelia

Extrait liquide de Spigelie, Fr.; Flüssiges Spigelienextrakt, G.

"Spigelia, in No. 40 powder, one thousand grammes [or 35 ounces av., 120 grains]. Prepare a Fluidextract by Type Process A, using diluted alcohol as the menstruum." U. S.

This preparation differs from that official prior to 1890 in having no glycerin in the menstruum; the U. S. P., 1870, fluidextract contained 50 per cent. of glycerin. Diluted alcohol is an excellent menstruum.

The fluidextract of spigelia is a dark-brown translucent liquid, with the flavor of the root. The dose may be repeated morning and evening for three or four days, and then followed by a brisk cathartic. It is, however, most used in connection with the fluidextract of senna, the fluidextract of spigelia and senna formerly official being an excellent combination, which should not have been dropped from the Pharmacopoeia. The formula is as follows:

Extractum Spigeliae et Sennae Fluidum, U. S. 1870. Fluid Extract of Spigelia and Senna.—"Take of Fluid Extract of Spigelia ten fluid-ounces; Fluid Extract of Senna, six fluidounces; Oil of Anise, Oil of Caraway, each, twenty minims. Mix the Fluid Extracts, and dissolve the Oils in the mixture." U. S. 1870.

Dose, for an adult, from one to two fluidrachms (3.75-7.5 mils); for a child of two or three years, from ten to twenty minims (0.6-1.3 mils).


The Dispensatory of the United States of America, 1918, was edited by Joseph P. Remington, Horatio C. Wood and others.