Extractum Chiratae Fluidum (U. S. P.)—Fluid Extract of Chirata.
Related entry: Chirata (U. S. P.)—Chirata
Preparation.—"Chirata, in No. 30 powder, one thousand grammes (1000 Gm.) [2 lbs. av., 3 ozs., 120 grs.]; alcohol, water, each, a sufficient quantity to make one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]. Mix six hundred cubic centimeters (600 Cc.) [20 fl℥, 138♏︎] of alcohol with three hundred cubic centimeters (300 Cc.) [10 fl℥, 69♏︎] of water, and, having moistened the powder with three hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (350 Cc.) [11 fl℥, 401♏︎] of the mixture, pack it firmly in a cylindrical percolator; then add enough menstruum 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 menstruum, using the same proportions of alcohol and water as before, until the chirata is exhausted. Reserve the first eight hundred and fifty cubic centimeters (850 Cc.) [28 fl℥, 356♏︎] of the percolate. Distill off the alcohol from the remainder by means of a water-bath, and evaporate the residue to a soft extract; dissolve this in the reserved portion, and add enough menstruum to make the fluid extract measure one thousand cubic centimeters (1000 Cc.) [33 fl℥, 391♏︎]"—(U. S. P.).
Description, Medical Uses, and Dosage.—This is a reddish-brown, intensely bitter fluid. Water fully extracts the virtues of chirata, but, as decomposition takes place by age, this is sought to be avoided by the addition of alcohol, which does not, however, wholly prevent subsequent deposition. This preparation is so little used as to make it a cumberer of the Pharmacopoeia. Uses, those of chirata. Dose, 10 to 30 minims.
