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BEFORE THE COMING OF THE ANTI-MEDICAL CANNABIS LAWS
Edwards & Hainsworth - Elgin, Ill.
Chas. Heylman - Chicago, Ill
Depuy Manufacturing Co. - Chicago, Ill
H. D. Garrison, Manufacturer of Fluid Extracts - Chicago, Ill
Note may not have actually been a company, but an individual chemist somewhere.
Allaire, Woodward & Co. - Peoria, Ill.
[Source = Magazine article]
The following article, which makes mention of ALL the above manufacturers, was taken directly from Google Books. NOTE that the year is 1874 so expect some antiquated spelling as well as references to mid-19th Century medical technology. Also NOTE that (of and by itself) this is NOT a pro-Medical Cannabis article, but instead a rant about lousy medicines, etc. All problems which by the early 20th Century had been addressed and fixed.
Vol. VII. CHICAGO, APRIL 1874. No.4.
EXAMINATION OF THE FLUID PREPARATIONS OF CANNABIS INDICAE
BY HENRY W. BUCHMAN
There exists much diversity of opinion among the Medical and Pharmaceutical profession regarding the strength of the commercial fluid preparations of Cannabis Indicae. To what extent this variance in strength exists, I hope to be able to establish by this investigation. The results of my examination will have the tendency to call the attention of the honorable members of the profession to the fact that the fluid preparations of this valuable remedial agent as found in the market are with but few exceptions deficient in the strength claimed by the labels attached to the receptacles in which these respective factors place their preparations, whence they are to go forth and aid in the relief of suffering humanity. But alas! they are, with but few exceptions, mere representations on the part of the unscrupulous or careless manufacturers; it either being their greed for the "Almighty Dollar," or sheer ignorance or carelessness in placing on the market such comparatively inert productions of so active a drug.
The tincture of Cannabis comprises the list of liquid preparations officinal in the U. S. Pharmacopoeia; the same is also true of the British, German, French, Russian, Indian, Swiss, Hamburg and Hanover standards. Yet this preparation is seldom used, the unofficial Fluid Extract taking the precedence in the United States, and may be found upon the lists of all the manufacturers of Fluid Extracts. It is represented by them that a fluid ounce of their preparation represents the activity of a troy ounce of the drug. In making my comparative examination of this preparation from the different manufacturers, I bestowed special care in obtaining the specimens examined directly from the parties without their knowledge for what purpose intended, and have performed the experiments of all the samples under the same favorable circumstances, with as much care and accuracy as the subject under consideration would allow. To make a standard preparation I procured a commercial quantity of the dried flowering tops of Cannabis Indicae; these I reduced to a fine powder, from which I obtained with alcohol a fluid extract which I have adopted as my standard. In drawing my comparison of strength, the first step in the examination was taking the specific gravity of the different specimens; much variance was found in this particular, as will be seen by consulting the table which follows although this is no test of the superiority of the preparations, as it is demonstrated in the table some of those which yielded the least per cent of resin had high specific gravities, being due to the menstruum to which in several cases glycerin had been added and which no doubt was at the expense of the exhaustion of the activity of the drug, the Resin. The color of the different specimens was also a noticeable feature, varying from a bright red to a dark green. A number of specimens had a considerable quantity of sediment deposited in the bottom of the containers. 1000 grains of each of these specimens of Fluid Extracts were placed in a porcelain capsule (which had been previously tared) by means of a water bath, evaporated to extractive consistence, the temperature of the water bath being regulated by a thermometer so that the temperature of the bath did not fall below 160 °, or go above 180 °F. When the different samples did not seem to loose any further moisture the temperature of the water bath was raised to 212°F, and kept at this point until by weighing no further loss was noticeable. All the capsules were then weighed, and to those containing glycerin cold distilled water was added and the glycerin by this means removed. These were again subjected to the heat of the water bath, again thoroughly desiccated, and again weighed and the loss noted. This loss was due to the per cent of glycerin which had been employed either for the purpose of exhausting the drug, or added to the preparation as a preserving agent. Whether or not this addition of glycerin is an advantage I will not attempt to answer; yet I will state that my experiments proved to my satisfaction that glycerin is no solvent for the active medicinal agent of Cannabis Indicae. Specimen Number Seventeen was peculiar in its general appearance. The fluid specimen as obtained from Mr. H. D. Garrison (who subsequently informed me that he was not the manufacturer of this fluid extract) presented a reddish liquid, not having the odor or taste of the drug, and, on evaporation, yielded an extract of a hard, brittle consistence, a very red color, a peculiar and bitter taste, which was sparingly soluble in cold water; completely soluble in diluted alcohol; but insoluble in alcohol of 95 per cent. When tested for resin of Cannabis Indica it gave no indication of containing a trace of this principle. We must set this down as not having been made from the foreign drug, and the error may have occurred in the name " Indian Hemp," being also applied to "Apocynum Cannabinum," an indigenous plant of the United States.
The remainder of the specimens examined were undoubtedly derived from the foreign drug, but the percent of extract yielded by the different samples is surprising; ranging from 2.3 to 10.1 percent. I am informed that the average yield of solid extract obtained by one of the largest manufacturers of this article is 10 per cent. I also exhausted a pound of powdered Cannabis Indicae obtained from one of our best jobbing houses, and the yield of this was but 4.8 per cent, of solid extract. This should be another warning to conscientious Pharmacists regarding the use of purchased powdered drugs for the manufacture of preparations, and it is not surprising that many a valuable remedy is lost to Medicine by this diversity of strength, which is illustrated so very perceptibly in this instance. By referring to the annexed table we find that there were only two of the sixteen commercial specimens that have any claim to the name," Fluid Extract'' while six specimens do not contain the quantity of extract directed for the officinal tincture.
The strength of the tincture of the U. S. Pharmacopoeia is about 1-21 or 3 vi to oi, that of the British 1 in 20, German 1 in 19, French 1 in 20, Russian 1.20, Indian 1 in 20, Swiss 1 in 20, Hamburg I in 21, and the Hannover standard 1 in 8.
The quantity of resin contained in each of the specimens was determined by redissolving the extract (which was obtained from the specimens of the respective fluid extracts examined) in a small quantity of alcohol of 95 per cent with the aid of a gentle heat in a water bath; the thus obtained solution of the extract was then precipitated by pouring it into a tared capsule containing a large excess of water, the resin was allowed to deposit and was separated by means of a tared filter, washed, and after drying weighed.
The resin thus obtained is of a brown color. When spread out thin on glass is transparent and of a fawn color. It has the peculiar odor and taste of the drug, and when heated, melts; becoming a liquid which takes fire, leaving no residue. A good and reliable test for this resin is as yet a desideratum and I hope at some future time to be able to supply this much needed want.
NOTE: All pictures doctored for quicker download time.
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