EXTRACT, in Pharmacy, a preparation of vegetable principles obtained by digesting vegetable substances in water or in alcohol, and evaporating them to a pasty or solid consistence; or by boiling down the expressed juices of fresh plants. According to the mode of preparation, they are termed either aqueous or spirituous extracts.
The name extractive principle, or extractive, is given by chemists to a peculiar principle which is supposed to form the basis of all vegetable extracts.