Species (Medicinal Mixtures)

SPECIES (Medicinal Mixtures), a medicinal form representing a mixture of dried plant parts, sometimes with the addition of chemical medicinal substances. The substances included in the composition of species must be properly comminuted; flowers of chamomile, lavender, yarrow, rose, elderberry, and mullein are added to the mixtures in their whole form. The Pharmacopoeia VII prescribes that the remaining substances be comminuted so that they pass through screens or sieves with openings of a specific size. Small fruits, berries, and seeds, as well as leathery leaves (such as rosemary or bearberry), are converted into a coarse powder. The mixing of species is performed using a wooden or metal spatula on parchment, paper, or in mortars. On a large (factory) scale, it is carried out in rotating drums. A somewhat more complex form is species with chemical processing. As a medicinal form, species suffer from great inaccuracy in dosage. In order to ensure the most accurate dosage possible, species are sometimes prescribed for dispensing in several separate doses; in this case, the pharmacy must prepare each dose individually, weighing and mixing the ingredients separately for each dose. Species also represent a very imperfect form in another respect: it is an unfinished form; from it, one must prepare an infusion, decoction, etc. The advantage of this form, thanks to which it has not disappeared from the medicinal catalog, lies in its low cost, simplicity of preparation, and high stability in comparison with ready-made aqueous extracts. Species are dispensed in cardboard boxes or paper bags; fragrant species or species containing hygroscopic impurities are dispensed in glass jars with stoppers. Species are also prepared by factories in compressed form. Compressed species are sometimes dispensed in dosed form; for example, the form of A. Weber (see figure) is convenient, created on the model of brick teas: a large tablet is divided by grooves into pieces, for example, of 5 g or 10 g; each piece is intended for one dose or one brewing. Species are prescribed mainly internally: they are brewed like tea, or boiled like coffee or soup. Often, species containing mucilaginous and fragrant plants are also prescribed for poultices or gargles. Examples of species with chemical processing can serve as: St. Germain laxative species (Spec. laxantes St.-Germain) and species against asthma. St. Germain species (prescription of the Austrian Pharmacopoeia VIII): Rp.: Fol. Sennae sine Resina 50.0; Flor. Tiliae 25.0; Fruct. Foeniculi contus. 15.0; Natrio-Kalii tartarici 6.0; Acidi tartarici 4.0. The fennel is moistened with a solution of Rochelle salt, dried, and then moistened with a solution of tartaric acid and dried again. The fennel turns out to be permeated with a mass of small shiny crystals of cream of tartar; in this form, it is mixed into a mixture of linden blossom and Alexandrian senna, deprived of resin (by extraction with strong alcohol). Species against asthma: Rp.: Fol. Stramonii 628.0; Hb. Lobeliae infl. 120.0; Kalii nitrici 250.0; Ol. Lavandulae 2.0. The pre-dried stramonium leaves and lobelia herb (mixture) are impregnated with a solution of saltpeter and dried again, and the finished species is evenly sprayed from an atomizer with lavender oil; for better distribution, a solution of the oil in ether or strong alcohol is taken. Dieterich (E. Dieterich) in his manual advises impregnating only the leaves

Compressed species, divided into doses.

of stramonium, and adding 7.5% of the more hygroscopic sodium nitrate to the potassium nitrate in order to keep the leaves moist and thereby prevent them from drying out to the point of brittleness and burning too quickly. In addition, he recommends adding 3 parts of potash per 1,000 parts of the species to preserve the green color of the leaves. To chemical processing, one can also attribute the very operation of extracting resinous substances with strong alcohol, for example, from the leaves of senna, bearberry, and others, with the aim of removing ballast substances and facilitating the action of water during the preparation of extracts. Species intended for seasoning and consisting of spicy plants are called spices in the food industry. Their composition includes marjoram, red pepper, garlic, onion, caraway, anise, coriander, dill, mustard, and others. Over the last decades, with the growth of pharmaceutical technology, species are increasingly falling out of use.

I. Obergard.