[Herbalist] proportions and parts

[Sandra Cochrane]

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Hello,
I am confused about how to figure out how much of each herb to use when they say 'parts'. I realize that 'part' means anything that you want it to, but the original formula reads,'take a quart jar and fill it 1/4 full with dried cayenne peppers, add enough vodka to just cover. Use enough fresh peppers that you can blend with vodka to make mixture into an applesauce like consistency. Add this mixture to the 1st mixture, filling up the jar 3/4 full. Fill up the rest of the jar with more alcohol.'
 The formula that I want to make has eight herbs in it, and the instructions tell me to make it using the cayenne pepper tincture method. I cannot figure this out. I have already made a couple tinctures up, trying to follow this method, and they did not make sense. If the ratio is 1:4, and you're using a quart jar with 32 oz., if the herbs fill up 1/4 of the jar, is the remaining 3/4 of the jar three parts, or four? What percentage would each of the eight herbs be if they are the same as the cayenne?
I don't know whether you need to be an herbalist to make these tinctures, or a mathematician.
Why can't the formulas just give you the amounts in ounces, and if you want to make more or less, you can adjust the proportion by multiplying or subtracting.?
Could you please tell me how to learn this most fundamental part of tincturing, because they all seem to be written this way.

Thank you,
Sincerely,
Sandra Cochrane
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