Continuation :
Where the remedies are prepared from reptiles and their venoms, they are either collected wild or cultivated in snake farms. Experts in this field rear them and the venoms are collected in glass flasks.
Materials such as lard and lanoline are used in external applications as vehicles. Milk products such as Lac caninum and Lac defloratum may be collected from wild or domesticated animals.
The endocrine products and certain enzymes are collected from sheep or cattle from the slaughter houses.
Dr. Hahnemann in his Organon of Medicine, 6th edition (aph. 266-268) describes the method that he employed in the preparation of the mother tinctures from fresh plants and animal specimens (e.g. Pyrogenium obtained from putrifying beef). He was in favour of using only the fresh specimens, because there`s less chance of evaporation and decomposition of certain chemical constituents. It is equally true that commercially the preparation of mother tinctures from fresh samples is difficult due to distances involved and the time taken in transit. That`s why the air dried samples are mostly used in the preparation of mother tinctures today.
Please also see (for the difference between a mother tincture and a homeopathic remedy) :
http://www.headshaking.com/homeopathy.htm
Wim