CHAPTER XII.
PHARMACEUTICAL PREPARATIONS.
Elixir Cocæ.—1 in 6 of Simple Elixir.
Dose.—1 to 4 drachms in water is a palatable preparation.
Extractum Cocæ Liquidum (Off.).
Syn.—Extractum Erythroxyli Fluidum, U.S.
Dose.—½ to 2 drachms.
Coca leaves are exhausted by percolation with proof spirit, the second part of percolate concentrated and dissolved in the first portion, and the strength adjusted so that 1 ounce=1 of leaves; this preparation contains all the properties of the leaf. If freed from the coca wax it is miscible with water and more palatable, and, so purified, if added to port, sherry, or burgundy, in the proportion of half a teaspoonful to a wineglassful (about an ounce to a bottle), it forms an exhilarating mental stimulant.
By distilling off the spirit and concentrating by evaporation, a solid semi-alcoholic preparation is obtained about four times the strength of the above, known as:—
Extractum Cocæ.
Dose.—2 to 15 grains or more, in pills or pastils.
Infusum Cocæ.—1 in 50 of boiling water.
Taken hot like tea with milk and sugar, or with a slice of lemon, it forms a refreshing beverage. In tonsillitis it may be used warm as a gargle.
Pastillus Cocæ Extracti, Coca Pastils.—2½ grains of the extract in each.
Dose.—One every two or three hours.
Coca pastils are good; cocaine cured case of asthma of 15 years’ standing; recommended for hay fever, spasmodic asthma, and post-nasal catarrh.—M.P.C. ii./85,320.
Vinum Cocæ.—About 1 in 8 of Sherry.
Dose.—One to two tablespoonfuls, diluted with wine or water.
This is strongly medicated, it must contain half a grain of alkaloid in the ounce, else it cannot be sold without a license.
Coca Wine in a more palatable and popular form, about 1 in 20 or 30 of a sweet red wine, is also prepared, and in doses of a wineglassful it forms an agreeable, exhilarating beverage.
Wine of Coca checks vomiting of irritable stomach.—L. ii./85,1078.