30 The Complete Engliñi 'Di/penfatory. Partí.

Spirits to diflblve them. Thereare others again of a middle Na-ture, which may be diflblv'd in ei-ther fort of Menfiruums, tho' notfo eafily in one as in the other.Thus Aloes and 'Rhubarb, which areiomething reßnous, are better madeinto Extracts with Spirit of Wine,than Witter. But Plants, which a-bound lefs with Refin, fuch as Helle-bore, &c. are more commodioufiyextracted with Water, than withSpirit of Wine. If we would there-fore perform Extraflion as it fhouldbe, we ought to find out a properMenftruum, and one which is asit were a-kin to the Body to beextracted .

There have been more pains be-ftow'd upon the Extraction of O-pium, than of any thing befides, itoeing one of the mod noble Medi-cines we have; and it is ifill in dif-pute, what is the moll proper Men-ßruum for it. It would be a tedi-ous Bufinefs to relate all the Formsand Procefles given us of this Ope-ration, 'twill be enough juif, to touchupon one of two of them : Someextract Opium by the help of A-cid Menfiruums, after it has beenevaporated, either upon live Coals,or kindled Brimflone ; that the Nar-cotick Strength of the Opium maybe fixed and corrected : but thisway of obtaining the Extract ofOpium is all trifling , unlefs wewould ufe a Caput Mortuum for■an Extract, inftead of a Medicine ;for the more fubfle part of theOpium, that abounds molt withw-Itttile Salt, flies away upon theApplication of Fire or Heat. Far-ther, it feems very judicious tomake ufe of Acids ; for if we exa-mine the Virtue of Opium, we ihaiifind, that Acids are quite contraryto it. Acids coagulate, and inducea Lentor on the Blood; whereas

nothing in the World does moreeffectually attenuate it than Opium.So that to join Acids with Opium,for the Intention of Curing, n juftlike a Surgeon's blunting the Edgeof his Inftrument, that he may makethe better Incifion. And for thefeme reaibn, the Acid Juices of Ve-getables, with which Opium is wonfto be fermented, will hardly efeapcCenfure, when they cometo be ex-amin'd, how little ibever they maydifniniih its Virtue. Others addSalt of Tartar, which is cry'd up fomuch, as to obtain the Name of theCorreBor of Opium ; but as there isno great matter of hurt in it, fo nomighty advantage is to be had fromit : for Opium has no need of thisSalt to facilitate its Extraction, finceit diffolves in a Menfiruum »eadilyenough of it felf ; nor is that Me-dicine, which affilages Pain fo mi-raculoufly, of fuch a favage and ma-lignant Nature, as to ftand in needot being tam'd and corrected in thatmanner. Without doubt that Cor-rection, ufed by the Antients, how-ever improperly fo call'd, was muchbetter, who always mixed Aroma-ticks with their Opiates, by whichthe Force of the Opium was brokeib little, that it rather acquir'd fromthem a new and greater Virtue forMedicinal Ufes. For this reaibnDr. Sydenham, in imitation of theAntients, puts Saffron, Cinnamon,and Cloves into his Laudanum. Theother Menfiruums, made ufe of toextract OpiuS, arc Spirit of Wine,Wine it felf and Water, and eachof them has its Champions and De-fenders ; tho' perhaps the Quarrelmay be fairly ended, if we give thePreference to Wine : for, not tomention, that Spirit of Wine is toohot for feme Conftitutions, it tooplentifully abforbs the reßnous pariof the Opium, and fo often oc-éano»