These drugs were to he boiled in 10 lb. of water to one-third of its volume, and to the strained liquor were to be added pulp of cassia fistula, tamarinds, prunes, sugar of violets, of each 6 oz.; sugar, 2 lb.; and at last 1-1/2 oz. of powdered senna was to be incorporated to each pound of the electuary.
In the Pharmacopœia of 1650 powdered aniseed, 2 drachms to each pound of the electuary, was added in order to correct the action of the senna.
In 1721 figs (20) took the place of the jujubes and sebestens; and powdered coriander seeds were substituted for the aniseed.
In the Pharmacopœia of 1746 the preparation was much simplified, the raisins, polypody, herb mercury, maidenhair, violets, and barley, being rejected. The formula then adopted was very nearly the same as the one now prescribed, but the name of the compound was changed in 1851 to Confection of Senna.
As in the case of most other medicines, the dose of this compound has been gradually reduced. There was more senna in proportion to the finished product in the old formulas than in the modern ones; but the dose was stated by Culpepper to be "one ounce for a man of reasonable strength." Later a piece the size of a walnut was recommended; now the official dose is 1 to 2 drachms.
For a long time this preparation was grossly adulterated. "I understand," says Paris, "that a considerable quantity is manufactured in Staffordshire in which unsound or spoilt apples are an ingredient; that jalap blackened with walnut liquor is frequently substituted for pulp of cassia; and that the great bulk of what is sold in London is little else than prunes, figs, and jalap."
